CrossDress My Heart
by Pinkcandle
Summary: Ash, returned from his journey to his hometown with the brand new identity of Ashley, planned to quit training and lead a brand new life as a girl. But when he bumps into his old rival, things get a little complicated. Gary/Ash
1. A Few Years of Change

The hardest part about his change in lifestyle was deciding what he was going to wear every day. How Misty could settle on those suspenders, he would never know. Would he be a blonde today? A redhead? There was that new teal one in the pigtails he'd been wanting to try... Who exactly was trying to decide all of this? Why, it was Ash Ketchum of little Pallet Town. The poor boy had been forced into crossdressing time and time again during his journies. So much so, that his hatred for it started to lessen and a fondness for it began to grow. Deep, deep inside, Ash would find himself jealous of their long hair and the ornaments some girls would weave in. He was jealous of how they could make their eyes pop with just the right shade of this or that. He was jealous of their kimonos, skirts, and blouses that were so much more alive and imaginative than old jeans and a t-shirt. So why be jealous anymore? Ash returned home after his seemingly timeless quest, a tall, lithe young man of 17, yet still so much a boy, and announced to his mother his new identity. Thank goodness she loved him either way.

Teal wig it was, he decided. Ash's natural black hair, which he was letting grow a little too long, was all tucked up under a wig cap. He then set the teal number in place. Both pigtails had quite a bit of volume to them, each ending in a little ringlet, and the bangs swooshed to one side which he pinned into place with a little orange and white Goldeen hair clip. A parting gift from Misty. A powder the same color as the wig was applied to his eyes and a cotton candy flavored gloss was chosen over actual lipstick. Going all out on his transformation, Ash would be found padding a white bra. A subtle yet noticable B-cup was his choice. He threw on a pink tank with a white star on the front and a matching white, pleated mini-skirt. A little turn in front of the mirror confirmed Ash's satisfaction with his appearance today, so he went out to greet his mother. "Morning, mom!" the boy said cheerfully and kissed her on the cheek.

"Good morning," Delila greeted with her usual smile and uplifting voice. Though she was always taken by surprise every morning, she still greeted him like she always did. "What would you like for breakfast?" she asked as she tied back her long brown hair, prepared to cook. Beside her was Mr. Mime, already in a apron, and he excited waved a spoon and mirrored the question in his own way.

"Mime, mime?"

"Can I have some toast and scrambled eggs?" Ash asked in reply. He went to the back door and opened it so he could see out into the backyard. "Pikachu!" he called, knowing his Pokemon liked to run around in the dewy grass in the mornings. "Breakfast!"

"Pika!" The little yellow mouse came barrelling into the house, dodging through his trainer's legs and scampering into the kitchen. His other Pokemon who weren't staying at the professor's lab were also wandering the house, and started to make their way towards the kitchen as the smell of breakfast being prepared started to waft through the halls. Buizel had already lept up onto a chair and was quickly joined by Pikachu, and when Ash rejoined them inside as the food was being placed down on the table, Infernape had also taken a chair, opposite Gliscor. Staraptor had chosen to perch up on the counter to eat, while his large Torterra had to stick his head in through the window, too big to lumber through the house. Mr. Mime placed his food on the windowsill for him while Delila served Ash and the rest of his team at the table.

"You've really caught a lot of new Pokemon," she said proudly, laughing as she stopped Buizel's two tails from wagging into the butter tray. "Are the rest all at the professor's lab?"

Ash nodded as he spread peach jam on one of his toast slices. "Yeah, I'm thinking I should trade some out. It's been awhile and I want them all to have a fair share of time with me." He bit into the toast now and smiled at his mom. "Thanks for letting them hang out in the house."

"Of course. It's nice to have some company," she said, smiling as Pikachu and Buizel started to chow down on the toast while Infernape actually took to cutting his eggs, shaking his head a bit at them. "Even if you don't trade them out, I'm sure there's a way you can visit them. As long as you're home, you might as well... though I don't know if the professor is there right now."

"Well I kinda wanted to go into town anyway," Ash replied and lifted his empty wrist. "Bangles & Bobbles is having a sale and I want to get some more bracelets. Hey, mom, do you think I should get my ears pierced?" he asked, nibbling on a bite of eggs.

"Don't you have to be a certain age to do that? How old is it?" Delila asked as she finally fixed up her own plate and took a seat.

Ash pouted. "I'm pretty sure the age is 16. I'm totally old enough, mom. Wouldn't some Goldeen earrings look really cute to match my clip? Pleeeeease."

"If it's 16, then that's fine," she said, smiling slightly. "Just be careful. Make sure they clean their tools and all of that. I don't want you getting an infection."

"I will! Thanks, mom!" Ash gobbled down the rest of his food, a habit he would probably never lose, kissed his mom on the cheek again and ran out the back door. "C'mon, Pikachu!" he called as he headed towards main part of town.

Pallet Town had grown a bit since Ash had left on his adventure, but it was still very small in comparison to the larger cities he'd seen on his quest. Still, the town that used to be just a few homes and the Pokemon labratory now boasted a few more homes and a small shopping center, mostly for clothing and essentials that residents used to either have to order for from places like Celadon City, or make themselves, still evidenced by the vegetable garden that Ash's mother continued to maintain, even if there now was a food store. The slightly larger population made the place more of a mystery, the community wasn't quite as close-knit, and so no one gave who seemed to be a girl with a Pikachu a second glance. Well, almost no one. Gary Oak had returned from his journey a short while prior to his rival, who he didn't know was back. And even staring at him from across the shopping center didn't clue him in. His hands dug into the pockets of his black pants and he bit his lip with a bit of a frown, trying to figure out who exactly the girl was. After all, he usually knew everyone in town. "Breeeee?" Umbreon gazed up at his trainer. Much like Pikachu, the slick black Pokemon was rarely seen not by Gary's side. He was strong like a jackal, but swift like a cat, just as Gary had raised him to be. Jewel red eyes stared across the way at the girl in the shop. His yellow ringed tail swayed behind him. "Breo..."

Meanwhile, Ash felt a pair of eyes on him, and it was making him feel uneasy. When he looked up, he caught sight of his old foe across the street through the window. "Oh great," Ash sighed. "I was hoping I could avoid him for a little longer." Not wanting to draw attention to himself, the boy went back to looking at the bracelets and earrings on sale. "How about this one?" he asked of his Pokemon, holding up a yellow bracelet that was patterned with alternating red dots and brown stripes.

Pikachu put a paw up to his mouth and made a sound sort of like a giggle, nodding his head and his ears twitching. "Never seen her around," Gary remarked idly to his Umbreon, straightening himself up, clearing his throat, and pulling his smartly tailored dark purple shirt before he started to approach, waving for his Pokemon to follow him.

Umbreon padded along on silent feet, even weaving between his trainer's legs without causing a single disruption. Ash cast his brown eyes upward briefly only to see Gary coming closer. "Tch..." With Pikachu on his shoulder, it was easy enough to move to another part of the store, small as it was. Ash took to a corner where some summer scarves were hanging and began to look through them.

Unfortunately for Ash, it wasn't easy for someone with bright teal hair to hide. "Excuse me," Gary's hand very idly found his vacant shoulder, and ducked his head down to get his attention. "Sorry if this seems forward, but I don't think I've seen you around. Did you just move in to town?"

Ash pulled away from the touch hastily. "Real funny," he replied and went back to looking at the scarves.

Umbreon gazed up at Pikachu, his eyes unblinking, until they closed and he mewled out a, "Brrrrrreo," to the yellow mouse.

"I'm not trying to be funny," he responded with a frown, his hand sort of hovering awkwardly where Ash's shoulder used to be.

"Pika!" Pikachu answered, waving down at the dark Pokemon.

Umbreon moved closer, sniffed at Ash's white sneakers, and then started to rub against his legs. "Ummmmmbr... Ummmmbr... Ummbbbbr..."

Again Ash moved away. "Can you tell your Pokemon to not do that, please?" he asked with an annoyed sniff. Apparently, Umbreon figured things out far quicker than his trainer had.

"Umbreon," Gary said sternly, snapping his fingers to return the Pokemon to sitting at his side. Pikachu lept down from Ash's shoulder to start chattering with the other Pokemon. "My name's Gary," the boy said, trying to keep up the conversation, still quite oblivious even if his Umbreon had figured it out at once. Unfortunately his sense of smell didn't quite cut it for identifying people.

Umbreon looked between Ash and his trainer. Then he just shrugged his angled shoulders and slunk gracefully back to Gary's feet where he sat with a posture of over-indulged pride. Ash was looking at Gary now with one eyebrow raised upward. "Is that supposed to impress me?" he asked, hands on his hips.

"No..." Gary raised his own eyebrows, a little confused at the girl's hostility. "This is just the part where you tell me your name."

Ash blinked a few times, just staring at the other boy. "Wow..." he chuckled. Either he was really good at disguises, or Gary was more stupid than he remembered. "Yeah, okay. My name is Ashley, nice to meet you... Jerry, was it?"

"Gary," he corrected with a bit of a smirk. He might have seen through the disguise, if only he had seen it six or seven years ago. It had been too long since he saw Ash last for him to make the connection, even with the name he was given. He cast a glance at the scarves that he was standing in front of. "Were you looking to get one of these?"

Ash shrugged. "I was mostly browsing. I'm not sure how much of a scarf person I am. What I really came here for was to get my ears pierced. I figure it's about time, you know?"

Gary leaned against the wall, shrugging his shoulders. "You look good even without earrings. But I'm not really one to talk," he said with a small laugh, brushing back a lock of spiky brown hair to reveal a small stud in the lobe of one of his ears.

Ash tried to stifle a laugh behind his hand. "I never- ah... I never would have pegged you for the type," he said, catching his words. Then Ash smirked. "Of course, I also have to wonder if you got it on the left on purpose. In which case, I haven't the faintest idea as to why you're flirting with me."

Gary drew his eyebrows together with a frown. "I have no clue what you mean by that," he admitted, suddenly looking panicked. "Why, what's getting the left one peirced mean?"

The wigged boy suddenly felt extremely satisfied, but he disguised it with a casual shrug. "Only that you're gay."

Gary looked horrified for a moment, then confused. Then, he rolled back his shoulders and laughed slightly. "You're pulling my leg," he concluded.

"I'm serious," Ash replied. "The left ear means you're gay." The disguised boy laughed. "Have you been living under a rock or something?"

"No..." Gary crossed his arms with a frown. "I've been out training Pokemon. Guess it has the same effect."

"Training, huh?" Ash stuck one hand one his hip, which he popped to one side. Just to see what Gary would do. "Ever earn any badges?"

"Of course I have," Gary snorted, a proud smile suddenly coming to his face. "I got all of the badges from Kanto and Johto before I retired from training."

Ash nodded. "Not too bad. From what I hear, anyway. You know, most trainers are in their prime when they get to our age. Why retire?"

"I decided I wanted to be a researcher," Gary explained, shrugging his shoulders. "I could probably keep winning Gym battles if I wanted to, but it was getting repetitive anyway. There's a lot more to learn as a researcher."

"Makes sense," Ash agreed with another nod. "Training Pokemon is fun for a while, but then you realize you're actually meant for something else. Even when it's something you never expected to happen."

"Yeah, you can say that again," Gary agreed, leaning down a bit and petting back his Umbreon's ears. "Are you a trainer?"

Ash thought for a moment on how to answer that question. "Sort of," he finally decided to say. "I mean, I have Pokemon and raise them, but I'm not the kind that goes out to fight them."

"So they're more like pets, then?" Gary asked. "Mine are going to be sort of the same way now, too, I guess."

"Pets is a good term, yeah," he said with a smile. "Practically family."

"Yeah," Gary said with a nod, standing up straight. He looked at the boy he thought was a girl for a moment as his Pikachu lept up onto his shoulder. "Sorry if this seems forward, but... what're you doing tonight?"

Now that he was not expecting. Ash was left standing there with his mouth hanging open slightly, his tongue sort of slugging around inside. "A-Actually, I promised my mom I would help her with some stuff around the house, sorry." Ash just hoped the excuse was believable enough. A date with Gary was so totally beyond the bottom of his to-do list in life.

"What about tomorrow, then?" Gary insisted hopefully, seemingly completely undeterred by the excuse. After all, his pride didn't quite ever allow him to register anything as outright rejection.

Ash backed up a step. "I don't know... Nothing is set in stone, but... I mean you never know what might come up."

"Well, let me know. I'm sure you know where the Pokemon Lab is, right? Just come over sometime."

Brown eyes looked away, but the boy nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'll think about it." Deciding that he wanted the conversation to be over, Ash turned around and walked straight out of the store. So much for earrings or bracelets. When Ash got home, he immediately went in search of his mother. "Mom? Mom, are you home?"

"In the living room!" her voice called back. Pikachu hopped off of his boy's shoulder and dashed off into the house in search of the other Pokemon.

Ash found his mother on the couch reading a home and garden magazine. He stood awkwardly at the entrance of the room, hands fidgeting with the hem of his skirt. "Mom, do I still look like me?" he asked.

"Hm?" she looked up, and then looked him over. She frowned a very small frown and shook her head. "Not really, sweetie... The makeup and the hair really makes you look like someone totally different. I mean, I could tell, but I don't think anyone else knows it's you walking around town. Why?"

"I was at the jewelry store and Gary walked in. He thought I was new in town. Asked me my name and everything." Something between a pout and a scowl formed on Ash's face. "He even tried to ask me out. I really thought I still looked enough like me, you know... in the face."

"Well, how long has it been since he last saw you?" she asked calmly, making a motion for her son to sit next to her on the couch and closing her magazine. "After all, he came back to town and started to work at the lab a long while ago, while you were still adventuring. You've changed, and on top of that you're not acting like yourself or even using your regular hair color. I'm not surprised he doesn't recognize you."

"A few years," Ash admitted as he sat beside the woman. "It was kind of weird, though. Especially the way I felt about it."

"Well, how did you feel about it?" Delila asked, folding her hands in her lap after placing her magazine down on the coffee table.

"I don't like Gary," he began, making things clear. "As far as I know, Gary isn't too fond of me, either. I doubt he disliked me for my looks, so it must have been my personality. I still have that, so... Either he's gotten over it, or he just thought I was hot enough to approach and not give two flips about my personality. In which case I would be even more pissed."

"He's changed a lot too, you know," Delila said gently. "I've talked to him a few times around town and he acts very differently from when he left here all those years back."

Ash looked at his mother. "Did he ever ask you about me?"

"Sure, a few times," Delila said, nodding her head. "He'd ask where you were or what you were doing. Sometimes he'd tell me which Pokemon you'd sent back to the lab. Sometimes I'd go there and he'd show me what you were catching in Hoenn and Sinnoh. It was nice. It was like being able to keep up with you even when I couldn't call you because you were... climbing a mountain or travelling through a forest or something... Whatever reason you had for not calling. But he'd tell me when you sent a new Pokemon back to the lab and then would ask if I'd talk to you lately."

Now Ash was quiet. He never thought Gary would ask about him even once. Let alone the number of times his mom made it sound like. "Do you think I should go see him? You know... as Ash?"

"If you want to, Ash. It's up to you." She smiled gently. "Now that he's not a trainer, I don't think he thinks of you as a rival anymore."

The boy sighed. "I dunno... It was probably a stupid idea, but I was kinda thinking I could without seeing him again. Of course that's nearly impossible in a small place like Pallet."

"Come on, Ash," Delila pat his back slightly. "Why not give him a chance? You've both matured a lot since you saw each other last. I'll bet anything that whatever it was about him that you didn't like has probably vanished over the years."

"Maybe..." Ash looked down at his hands in his lap before one reached up to pull the wig off. "I'm gonna change and go play with my Pokemon. Let me know when you need help with dinner," he said a bit solemnly and then got up to go to his room.

For the next few days, Ash just rushed out the door as usual. Delila occasionally would ask if he'd gone to the lab yet, but his answer was always no. Though dissapointed, Delila knew she couldn't force him to try and make amends with his former rival. She just hoped, as she watched him run out the door with Pikachu on his shoulder, that this misunderstanding Gary seemed to have fostered wouldn't turn into a big deal. If Ash went into town, he never went as himself. Ashley might get hit on, but Ash would have been mocked. He much prefered the former. Besides, he figured he could avoid being noticed by Gary again as long as he kept changing wigs. The day after running into his old rival saw Ash just staying at home in a pair of old shorts and a red t-shirt, black, shaggy hair hanging down around his neck. Since then he'd been a redhead, aquamarine, blonde, and today was bubble gum pink. It was pulled back into a ponytail high on his head. Pink eye shadow and pink lip gloss to match, of course. Feeling sort of brash, he had on a black baby tee with a broken heart on the front and some skinny jeans with rips in the knee and thighs. "How about we go look for some new music, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" the Pokemon agreed enthusiastically. Unaware of the situation, he was always just happy to be with his trainer and to see Pallet Town again, in all of its newly expanded glory. Every day they'd pass the labratory on the way in to town, sitting up on that high hill as always, and Pikachu would tug on Ash's collar and point up at the place. "Chu?"

Ash shook his head, causing the end of the ponytail to brush against Pikachu's side. "No, we're not going up there today. Not until Professor Oak comes back."

"Chu..." Pikachu murmured, obviously dissapointed by how his ears drooped.

"I'm sorry, Pikachu," the boy said with a sigh. "I just can't face Gary right now. Please understand?"

"Pika." Though the little electric mouse still seemed sad, he gave a nod. Though as they started to walk closer to town, he looked from his trainer, back to the lab, and suddenly lept off of his shoulder, running up the long flight of stairs towards the place, panting, "Chu, chu, chu, chu..."

Ash gasped. "Pikachu!" He spun on his Vans clad heels and ran after his Pokemon. "Pikachu, come back!" Chasing after the little mouse made Ash realize that skinny jeans were not made for running in. Ash nearly caught the little Pokemon, but Pikachu jumped over his hands and sped up. Pikachu ran all the way up to the top of the hill, and, noticing that the door was open, scampered inside. "Pikachu! Pikachu, no!" Ash skidded to a stop outside the door. He didn't feel comfortable just barging in, but he had to get his Pokemon back. "Pikachu," he hissed and stuck his head inside. "Pikachu, get back here!"

When Ash stuck his head inside, a chorus of Pokemon voices suddenly started up. The lab was packed with Pokemon. A whole group of Eevee dashed up to the door and started to yip excitedly, their bushy tails waving from side to side. Whatever discreteness Ash was hoping for was shattered as the ruckus got the attention of the boy inside. Wearing a labcoat and sitting in an office chair, he swiveled around to reveal that yet another Eevee was curled up on his lap. His eyes went wide when he spied his visitor. "H-hey, you came!"

Brown eye had gone wide when he saw all the Eevee. All Ash could think was how Gary was like the crazy old cat lady of Pokemon. When he heard the other boy address him, Ash feigned innocence. "I'm sorry... Do I know you? My Pokemon just got away from me."

Gary laughed, as if his attempt at pretending to be someone else was a funny joke. "You mean him?" Gary motioned to Pikachu, who was playing around with Umbreon.

"Um, yeah, let me just grab him and I'll leave you alone." Ash jogged over to Pikachu and snatched him up. "Not cool," he whispered under his breath to the mouse.

"Hey, you're the girl I talked to a few days ago, right?" Gary called as he tried to get out of the lab, Eevees weaving across his path.

Ash glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, um, I don't think so." It was hard to think and talk and walk with so many Eevee running around him.

"Ashley, right? You just changed your hair color..." He frowned gently, scratching behind the ear of the Eevee in his lap. "You really don't want to talk to me, huh."

He stopped and sighed, slumping his shoulders slight.y. "It... It's complicated," Ash tried to admit.

"Complicated like how?" Gary asked. The Eevee lept off of his lap as he stood up and started to make his way towards Ash.

Ash shrugged. "I'm sort of... dealing with a whole bunch of stuff right now," he explained. "Personal stuff."

"Sorry to hear that." Pikachu was squirming in Ash's arms, trying to get down onto the floor. "Do you... have any Pokemon here?" Gary asked hesitantly.

That's right... Ash had wanted to get a few new Pokemon out, but he didn't bring any with him to trade. Without them, there probably wasn't much point. He shook his head. "No, the few Pokemon I have are at ho- Hey!" Ash yelped when Pikachu slipped from his grasp and ran across the lab floor.

Gary laughed as Pikachu rejoined Umbreon's side. "Pika pika!" he insisted, waving his little arms.

"It's okay, you know," Gary said with a laugh. "Even if you don't take your Pokemon with you, you can visit them out back. Pikachu probably wants to see them, judging by the way he's acting."

Ash chewed on his bottom lip nervously. "Out of all the trainers who send you their Pokemon, do you know which ones belong to which trainers?" he asked, knowing that might be his undoing.

"My grandfather probably does, but I only know the ones that I've recieved recently. There's a system in place that pretty much automatically returns Pokemon to their Pokeballs from outside and sends them to their trainers now, so I don't really need to keep track."

Ash nodded. "That's cool. Um, I guess I will see them. Pikachu is being really insistent. Which way do I go?" he asked, again trying to act like he was totally new to the place.

Gary waved his hand to lead the boy. Umbreon and Pikachu followed at his feet as he went towards the back door. It opened right up into a huge corrall where many Pokemon were being allowed to roam. As soon as they emerged, a huge Arcanine bounded up to greet Gary. He pet the Pokemon's nose before looking over at Ash. "See anyone you know?"

"Bulbasaur!" Before Ash could even answer, the little Grass Pokemon had found him first and was rushing towards him, nostrils flaring as he recognized his trainer's scent and lept into his arms, even with his changed appearence.

The disguised boy gasped, but he still managed to catch his Pokemon. There was fondness in his eyes and nostalgia on his face as he rubbed the seedling's head. "Hey buddy, it's been a long time," Ash said softly. "I missed you."

"Saur..." Bulbasaur rubbed his head against his trainer's hand.

"Pika!" Pikachu rushed off into the crowd towards another group of Pokemon he recognized.

"I'll leave you alone if you want," Gary offered quietly.

"If you don't mind," Ash said. "Just for a few minutes. I... We've been through a lot."

"Yeah, I know. I've seen this plenty of times." He seemed to force up a smile as he waved to his Arcanine, sending it bounding back towards the gated edge of the ranch-like backyard. "Take all the time you want." He motioned for Umbreon to follow him before heading back inside.

"Thanks." Ash turned back to Bulbasaur, one of his oldest friends. "You all don't judge me," he said thankfully.

Umbreon padded after his trainer, watching the supposed girl over its shoulder before going inside and having the door closed. Jewel red eyes then looked up at his trainer. "Brrreo..."

Gary had held the door open to let all of the Eevee back outside, until it was just him and his Umbreon in the lab. He flopped down on his chair, sighing quietly. "I don't get it, Umbreon," he said, shaking his head and putting a hand on top of Umbreon's.

"Ummmb?" The black Pokemon seemed to ask for some expansion on the statement. He sat regally in Gary's lap, back straight, paws together, head high. "Breon..."

"Can't seem to get a date ever since I stopped being a trainer," he murmured, petting down the Pokemon's back. "No one's interested in researchers. Must've been how gramps felt."

Umbreon shook his head. "Umbrrreon," he replied, insisting that was nonsense. "Breo. Breon. Umbreon." The feline-like Pokemon arched its back slightly and begn to purr.

"It's true, though," Gary responded, leaning back in the chair as he scratched at the Pokemon's spine. "I mean, ever since me and the cheerleaders parted ways, you'd think I'd seem more available. But no one cares when you're not a trainer anymore. Sure, some girls are impressed by seeing you, but once I tell them I stopped battling and getting badges to do research..."

Again Umbreon shook his head. "Umbreon," he said decidedly, saying 'not this one.'

"She's the same," Gary huffed, putting his hands behind his head. "You saw her, she tried to pretend she wasn't herself to get out of talking to me."

"Brreeeeo," Umbreon mewed and laid his tail on top of his own head. "Umb! Umbre. Eon. Eon!"

Gary didn't understand. "What are you doing?" he asked, frowning. Umbreon sighed. Why couldn't humans bother to learn their language? The sleek Pokemon hopped down and scampered over to Professor Oak's desk. There he picked a small photo frame up in his mouth and came back. Umbreon presented the photo of the elder Oak with one of his prized trainers. Ash Ketchum. Gary took the photo from his Pokemon, looking at it for a moment. Unfortunately, it just didn't seem to click. It was an old photograph, after all. The boy's face had changed so much that it didn't jog anything. "Wonder what he's doing," he murmured, propping the frame up on his desk. "I'll bet you anything that he's got a different girl following him everywhere he goes."

"Umbreon!" the Pokemon exclaimed and laid his tail on top of his head again, making it look like a bushel of thick fur was growing there.

Gary looked at his Pokemon, but just raised a brow. "Sorry Umbreon. I just really don't get what you're getting at."

Umbreon jumped onto the desk. He stood on one side of the photo in an attack stance and yipped a few times. He then stood on the other side of the photo where he did his tail again and swayed his hips. "Breon! Breee!"

Gary stared for a moment, before picking up the picture. He narrowed his eyes, but then just slumped back in the chair again. "Why don't you go play outside, Umbreon."

Jewel red eyes rolled dramatically. Umbreon leaped down from the desk and dashed out through his little door to the back pasture. Only a few minutes passed before it sounded like someone shouted angrily from outside and Umbreon came running back inside with the pink wig clenched in his little mouth. He jumped into Gary's lap. "Umb! Umb! Umb!"

"What's that?" Gary took the wig from Umbreon, raising his eyebrow as he turned it over in his hands. "Huh... guess she didn't dye it."

Suddenly, an arm shot through the little door, flailing and reaching for the Pokemon that had taken his wig. "Get back here! You give that back right now!" Ash shouted, his tone bordering rage and panic. "I'm gonna shave all your fur off and make a new wig out of it!"

Gary's eyebrows rose, and he went over to the door, holding the wig in his hand. He had the choice of opening the door or just handing the wig back. He bit his lip, but decided it was best to just give it back to the flailing hand. "Relax, here... Sorry about that." The hand froze, fingers curling and almost drawing back completely. On the other side, Ash was biting his lip, panic fully taking over any anger he might have been feeling a second ago. Of course he had to get his wig back, so he took it carefully into his hand and drew it back through the little door. When he looked at it, he sighed. It was all messed up now. "Sorry," Gary repeated, as he leaned back against his side of the doorframe. "He's not usually misbehaved like that... I don't know what came over him."

Ash was running his fingers through the pink hair, trying to make it look decent. He couldn't imagine what Gary was thinking right now. "Yeah, well... I guess it's okay."

Umbreon was at his trainer's feet, tugging on Gary's pant leg with his tiny teeth. "Mmmmb. Mmmmmmb!"

"Umbreon, what's come over you?" Gary murmured, trying to shake his leg enough to get his pant leg out of the Pokemon's mouth. "C'mon, let go, Umbreon!"

Umbreon released the fabric only to slink out the little door and yip at Ash. "Umb! Umb! Umb! Umbreon!"

Ash scowled at the black Pokemon and clenched the wig in his fists. "Your Pokemon's as stubborn and arrogant as you are!" he shouted. "I knew nothing had changed about you!" Ash picked up his Pikachu, keeping a firm hold on the mouse, and stormed off. He jumped over the fence of the corral and made his way down the hill and toward his house.

Gary rushed outside just in time to see a flash of pink and yellow escaping into the town below. "Wait!" he called, but to no avail. He sighed, slumping against the top of the fence. "Great..."

Ash was breathing heavily when he made it home, sweat dripping down the side of his face. "Why did you do that, Pikachu?" he asked, sounding upset, maybe even angry. "I told you I didn't want to go up there!"

"Chu..." Pikachu's ears drooped and he let out a tiny sigh. He seemed disapointed by the way everything had played out.

Ash shook his head. "I don't want Gary to know that I'm back! I don't want anything to do with him, understand?"

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu seemed to insist, waving his stubby arms. He seems so frustrated with the two trainers.

"No! Just drop it!" Ash set Pikachu down on the floor and went to his room. He slammed the door shut, even thought the little yellow mouse had chased after him, causing the door to smack Pikachu in the nose. "Nobody understands..." Ash sighed as he fell on the bed.

"Chu..." Pikachu whined, rubbing his nose. He bumped his head against the door for a few minutes, and even contemplated trying to leap for the doorknob. But, eventually deciding to leave his trainer alone, he curled up outside the door and rested his chin on his lightningbolt-shaped tail.

Umbreon jumped on top of the fence beside his trainer's head and sighed. "Breon..." Red eyes looked at Gary and then back in the direction Ash had run. "Bre," he chirped and nodded his head to go after them.

"I think we did enough damage for today," Gary said with a frown. He flipped himself up to sit on top of the fence, looking down at the town. "Besides, wouldn't following her home seem sort of... stalker-ish?"

"Ummmb..." Umbreon laid his head down in his trainer's lap. Much like Pikachu, he'd been hoping things would have gone much smoother. "Umbreon," he said, casting jewel colored eyes up at his boy.

Gary ran his hand down the Pokemon's neck and back. "Thanks for trying," he said quietly. "But this is probably gonna turn out like it always does... and I'm not keen on making it worse."

Umbreon sat up again. "Breon!" He jumped down and ran back into the lab. When it seemed like Gary wasn't going to follow, he stuck his head out the little door. "Breon!"

Gary sighed and flipped himself back over the fence. He dodged through the Pokemon running around in the corrall to join his Pokemon inside the lab. "What is it, Umbreon?"

"Bre." The black feline used one paw to type on the computer, having learned from watching his trainer for so many years. Eventually he brought up a website for reasonably priced fun jewelry. Umbreon looked up at his boy and smiled. "Umbreeeon!"

Gary spun into his office chair to look up at the website. "Hm..." He scooted in to the keyboard and started to click around the website. "You may save my tail yet, Umbreon," he laughed. Umbreon beamed proudly. He would give a little mewl each time he saw something he thought looked nice.

"It'll take a few days to get here..." Gary murmured after making his selections. He leaned back in his chair, nodding his head contentedly. "But hopefully that'll give her enough time to calm down."


	2. Well Deserved Revenge

A week went by before the package arrived in the mail. Unwrapping the brown paper revealed a long purple jewelry box tied off with a lilac bow. "Alright," Gary breathed when he held it in his hands, nodding his head. Abandoning his lab coat for brown slacks and a black polo with his usual necklace around his neck, he led Umbreon outside before locking up the laboratory. He didn't have much of a plan, just hoped that by some stroke of luck, he'd come across Ashley without having to track down her house with Umbreon. That still seemed a little weird. Ash left Pikachu at home today. The little electric mouse had tried running off to the laboratory a number of times, and he'd had enough of that. His hair was black today, but still a wig. It had a braid that reached all the way down his back and bangs that framed the sides of his face. Purple eye shadow and lipstick spoke of the little purple strapless number he wore with the tall black boots. Ash was walking down the street heading towards a music store he liked. Gary had stationed himself in town, even though he still had no idea what he was going to do. If he just approached the girl... he was sure that she would still be upset. Eventually, his courage and resolve seemed to break down. He went towards the small water feature the town had to offer. It was a tiny area where the ocean washed up that led towards Cinnabar that might have worked as a dock if it was a bit deeper. He sat down on a rock, putting his elbows on his knees and hunching over, staring at the box. He used to be so bold, but now he couldn't bring himself to track down this girl.

Umbreon sat at his trainer's feet, watching as the people walked by. Suddenly his ears perked up and he was on his feet. "Umbreon!" Gary briefly glanced over his shoulder. He almost didn't notice her with the different hair color, but he finally did. He bit his lip, debating in his head, not realizing that he was staring. Taking action when his trainer wouldn't, Umbreon ran up to the supposed girl and began yipping. "Bre! Bre! Bre! Bre! Bre!"

Ash looked down and frowned darkly. "Get away from me," he growled.

"Umbreon!" Gary got up and went to grab his Umbreon by the scruff of his neck to pull him away. "Umbreon, leave her alone."

"You're really going to try that?" Ash snapped. "I'm not stupid. You're using him to track me down, aren't you?"

"No!" Gary grit his teeth, taking his Pokeball off of his belt. "Umbreon, return!" The red light jumped out of the ball to engulf the Pokemon and draw him back. "I'm sorry, I'm really not. Usually I don't have any trouble with him." He looked up, frowning apologetically. "For some reason he just flips out when he sees you."

"He must get it from you," Ash said. He crossed his arms over his chest, unintentionally pushing his fake boobs up inside the dress. "They pick up on your feelings, you know. Umbreon is only obsessed with me because you are."

"I know that," Gary sighed as he hooked the Pokeball onto his belt. "I'm sorry," he repeated. He looked at the box in his other hand, but took a deep breath and offered it up. "I wanted to apologize for what he did the other day."

Brown eyes blinked. He touched the black wig hesitantly, but then drew his hand down to his side. "What's that?" he asked, nodding at the purple box.

"Bracelets... earrings... they match," Gary murmured. "You were, uh... looking at some, back when we first met. But I think I sort of scared you out of the store before you could get anything. These are from Celadon, but... yeah." He laughed quietly, offering it up again. "Sorry."

Ash carefully pulled on the bow, letting it unravel from the box. Not knowing what else to do with it, he tied it in his hair. Then he opened the lid to find five sets of bracelets and earrings; all of them different colors and patterns. "You shouldn't have..."

"No, I... I had to. What my Pokemon did was really out of line." He nodded his head, feeling a little better for it. "And I should have left you alone when you asked me to. So, I will." He nodded again before using two fingers as his goodbye, before turning around to head back towards the water, hands in his pockets.

Ash looked down at the jewelry box again. He felt something in his chest, and he supposed it was guilt. "Gary!" he called after the other boy. "What is it about me, exactly?"

Gary looked over his shoulder before he was off the sidewalk and back into the grass. "Huh?" He thought for a moment, but then shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno... it's... something. You're pretty, and you just seemed... interesting."

"Interesting how?" Ash asked, wanting to get more out of his old rival than that. "Bimbo interesting? As in entertaining to look at without needing a personality?"

"Interesting as in no one in Pallet Town looks like you," Gary said with a bit of a frown. "And... well, there haven't been too many people that actually have a team of trained Pokemon that live here ever since my gramps stopped giving out Pokemon. Now everyone moves on to other towns... There aren't many people I can actually have a conversation with about Pokemon outside of, 'Oh, Meowths are so cute! Oh, I wish I could have a Delcatty to enter in contests...'" He sighed, turning his head back towards the water.

Ash wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, I hate people like that." Against his will, a very faint blush appeared on his cheeks. "I'm sure there are plenty of other girls in town who look like me."

Gary laughed out loud, shaking his head. "Not even close. There hasn't been an interesting, pretty girl our age through here, in... well, ever since I came back to live here." He glanced over his shoulder again. "So sorry if I came on a little strong. I got excited."

"You really like girls," Ash said quietly.

"I guess," Gary said, shrugging his shoulders. "I like company more."

He frowned slightly. "Don't you have any guys friends you hang out with?"

Gary frowned, shaking his head. "No, not really."

"You must have had friends before you left," Ash insisted. Maybe he could get Gary to mention him. "Weren't they here when you came back?"

"I had one friend... when I was a kid, but..." Gary rolled his eyes, laughing slightly. "I was sort of a jerk back then. He's on a journey, y'know, he's still a trainer, but even if he came back he probably wouldn't want anything to do with me."

Ash nodded slightly. "What was his name?"

"Ash. Ash Ketchum." Gary rolled his shoulders back, raising an eyebrow. "Ever heard of him? He's been on TV a lot, he enters a league battle almost every year."

"I might have seen him once or twice," he said with another nod. "He's got a Pikachu, right?"

"Yeah, like you," Gary said, nodding. "He got it at my grandfather's lab back in the day. He keeps changing his team up, but that Pikachu's always on it."

Ash hummed. "Brown eyes, right?" he asked while batting his own earth colored orbs.

"Yeah, and black hair, like..." Gary blushed as a sort of realization came over his face. "You guys are a lot alike."

It was time to stop playing games. Ash knew in good conscience he couldn't lead Gary on like this. "His mom's name is Delila. She lives just a little ways out of town," he went on. "She has a Mr. Mime."

"Yeah, that's all... true..." Gary was starting to look confused. "Do you... know him?"

Ash nodded. "You could say that."

Everything finally seemed to click together. Gary thought about Umbreon's strange behavior, the Pikachu, and the girl's words just now. "You're not..."

"C'mon, Gary," he said with a half smile. "You aren't that stupid."

Gary's eyes went wide and he gaped for a moment, before running his hand up into his hair. "Wow, are you serious? I-I..." He stammered for a moment, only to let out a nervous laugh. "I mean, wow. I feel like an idiot now."

Ash shook his head. "No... My mom said I hardly look like myself anymore. It's understandable that you wouldn't recognize me." He looked down at the box and held it up to the other boy. "I suppose you want this back now."

"No, no," Gary still looked surprised, but shook his head. "I got it for you, it's still for you."

Now Ash looked surprised. "Oh... Um, thanks..."

Gary nodded. "Yeah. So..." His voice trailed off a bit, shuffling his foot a bit nervously. He seemed a little awkward knowing the truth. "When did you start doing... this?"

"Maybe a year ago," he replied. "Officially. Before that, it was mostly in secret. I wasn't sure yet, y'know?"

"I see... and when did you get back to Pallet?" he asked, turning and taking a step towards him again. "I didn't even know you were back."

"Two months, give or take." For the first time, Ash didn't move away when Gary approached. "I didn't really tell anyone. Ash wasn't back."

"Oh... I don't feel as bad then." He smiled a little halfheartedly. "I thought maybe I was the only one that didn't know."

"Yeah. I'm Ashley now," he said. "In truth... I'm not sure Ash is ever coming back."

"I see..." Gary put his hands in his pockets again, frowning gently. "Can I still apologize to him?"

Both his eyebrows went up. "Apologize?"

"For the way I acted. When we were kids."

"Oh, that..." Ash bit his lip. He'd been waiting for an apology all his life. What's more, he thought he'd never get one. But it seemed Gary had really humbled out since their childhood. Ash lifted his free hand to pull the wig off, cap and all, to let his natural hair flop down around his face. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Gary suddenly felt like even more of an idiot. So that's what Umbreon had been trying to show him... it had gotten long since he saw him in Johto. "I'm sorry," he repeated, taking another step closer. "Back then... you were my only friend. But I abandoned you because I got a big ego... and maybe I was a little jealous of what you had. It was a stupid reason to act the way I did."

"Thank you." Ash looked down. "I didn't have anything you didn't have either, Gary. You know that. In fact, you had way more than me. It was just the way you flaunted it around that pissed me off."

"No, you had something that was way more important than what I had. The car, the girls... all that stuff. But..." He let out a long breath. "You had your mother. I was... jealous of that. I grew up with my grandfather and my sister."

"Your grandpa is awesome, though," Ash insisted. "And your sister is super nice. I don't really have either of those. I mean, heck, I don't even have a dad."

"Neither do I." Gary crossed his arms, letting out a sigh. "I would have traded anything for a mother, though."

"What happened to them?" he asked, tilting his head. "You never would tell me."

"I don't... really know myself. Whenever I try to ask gramps he'd change the subject. May won't tell me either. She just told me... that they wouldn't be coming back."

Ash's face fell. "Oh..." He never knew that. Ash always thought Gary's parents lived elsewhere in a big house with lots of nice things, and that Gary only lived in Pallet because he favored the Pokemon here. To think, perhaps know, that they were dead... "I'm really sorry."

"It's alright," Gary said with a shake of his head. He paused for a moment, but then continued to say, "The point is, I was jealous of you, back then. And, y'know, as a kid, sometimes you don't react the right way. So I owed you this apology."

Ash nodded. "I really appreciate it, Gary. And thank you for the gift," he said, holding up the box. "Only thing is... I never got my ears pierced. I was going to that say in the store, but... Hey, did yours hurt?"

"A bit," Gary said with a laugh. "But once you get used to it it's like it's not even there. Do you still want to go get it done?"

Ash grinned a little and nodded again. "Yeah, I kinda do. I mean, I was going to anyway, but now I can't let your gift go to waste," he said, chuckling. "Let me get my wig back on. Will you hold this?" he asked and held out the box.

"Yeah, sure," Gary said, taking the box. He watched almost in awe as Ash put the wig back on, and suddenly he didn't look like himself again. "How many wigs do you have?" he asked curiously, giving the box back once Ash had the wig secure.

"How many?" Ash glanced upward as he tried to count in his head the number of wigs he owned. "Maybe... Um... Thirty?"

"Wow," Gary breathed, eyes widening a bit. "Weren't they expensive?"

"Some of them, but you can get great deals if you know where to look. I got a lot of mine directly from a girl who raises Pokemon for their hair. Also, I bought in bulk. She gave me 10 percent off for every five I bought."

"Is this one of them?" Gary asked, starting to finger the back braid of the wig as they began to walk in towards town. "What kind of Pokemon's hair is it?"

Ash smiled when he felt Gary touching his wig. Even though he never said it, Ash loved when people fawned over his new looks. "This one is natural Mightyena hair. Most of my other wigs are made from either Vulpix or Ninetales hair that has been naturally dyed."

"And it's farmed, not skinned, right?" Gary inquired. He was rolling the end of the ponytail between his fingers and marveling at how soft it was, but he'd drop it in a second if the answer was no.

The disguised boy frowned. "Of course it's farmed. It's a very gentle shearing process, plus the Pokemon are rotated so they don't have to lose their just just after they grow it back. From what I could tell, they didn't mind at all."

"Good, good," Gary said, nodding his head. "I used to see some messed up stuff... A lot of trainers lose their morals because they're fighting all the time. It's good to see that as far as that goes... you haven't changed."

Ash laughed. "I'd go naked before I hurt a Pokemon for clothes or wigs," he said, looking over his shoulder. "I love Pokemon."

"I'm glad," Gary said, crossing his arms and nodding. "I've grown much more appreciative of them over the years."

"Not so concerned with your testosterone fueled man team anymore?" Ash asked with a teasing raise of an eyebrow. "And here I thought I'd never see the day."

Gary laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "Not so much anymore... I haven't even had a battle in a long time. But I'm still training them!" he added quickly. "I recently trained and evolved a Nidoqueen for my Nidoking."

"Aww, playing match-maker, are we?" Ash cooed and batted his eyes. "You'll hear the pitter-patter of little Nidorans running around before you know it."

"We'll see," Gary said with a smirk. "It's just... Nidoking never really got along with the rest, with maybe the exception of Arcanine. And when Arcanine's doing other stuff, he seemed lonely, y'know?" He shrugged his shoulders again. "There's nothing more depressing than a giant Nidoking sulking."

"I don't even think I can imagine something like that. Oh! Here we are!" On accident. On reflex. On instinct. Ash grabbed Gary's hand and pulled him into the store. "You know if it ends up hurting, you'll have to buy me ice cream," he said. "Cause you promised it wouldn't, so it had better not."

Gary blushed pink, eyes jumping to their hands and then back to Ash's smiling face. "G-Gladly," he stammered.

Ash scampered over to the little corner counter set up for ear piercing. "I'm here to get my ears done!" he said proudly to the girl behind the counter. "I'm 17, so it's fine. I want these ones put in." Ash opened the jewelry box and pulled out two purple earrings painted like an Ekans' face. Gary came to lean against the counter, still sort of staring at his hand and his face still tinted a little pink. He was a bit confused with himself, but how could he help it? He's just found out his best friend when he was a baby, and rival when he was a kid, was the pretty girl he'd been following about for the last few weeks. It made his head spin a bit, but just standing there silently worked well enough for his visage anyway. "Okay, I'm ready," Ash said from where he was sitting on the tall stool. "No wait!" he said and flinched away. "Sorry. Sorry. Okay, I'm fine. Go ahead... Ah! No wait! Wait!" Only he pulled away again at the last second. "Gary!" he whined.

Gary snapped out of it, looking over his shoulder at the boy sitting in the stool. "What's wrong? Can't do it?" he asked, smirking slightly. "C'mon, it's just a needle."

Ash pouted. "But what if it hurts?"

Gary turned around to put his elbows on the counter, facing the boy across it. "But what if you never get it done because you're scared of it hurting?" he counter-proposed.

The boy nibbled on his lip for a moment before reaching his arm out. "Hold my hand," he demanded. "That way I can crush it if this does hurt."

Gary blushed again, but nodded his head slowly and reached his hand out for the other boy to take a hold of. "Alright," he said, still smirking. "You can get electrocuted by a Pikachu but still be scared of a needle. Who knew."

"Hey, electrocution I've become accustomed to," he replied. Ash squeezed his eyes shut and held tight to Gary's hand. He told the girl to do it fast like a band aid. Each piercing did earn a flinch and a clench upon Gary's hand, but there were no shouts or tears.

When the piercings were done, Gary leaned down, grinning. "Did you survive?" he asked.

One brown eye cracked open to look around, and then the other. "No," he said in a playful huff and turned up his nose. "I bled out all over the store thanks to you and your lies. I demand ice cream as retribution. You must please my wandering spirit, or I will haunt you. In the bathroom. Where you can hide nothing."

Gary started to snicker, putting his free hand over his mouth. "Alright, alright," he said, rolling his shoulders back as he led the boy off the stool and out of the store. "If it's any consolation," he added as they started towards the scoop shoppe, "the earrings look good."

"Really?" Ash blushed softly and touched one of the new piercings. "Thanks, Gary..."

"No problem." Gary led the way to the ice cream shoppe, and, as Ash demanded, paid for the treats. He even got himself a milkshake. There was a small patio of chairs where customers could sit, and he sat across from the other boy, watching him lap at the edges of the cone as ice cream attempted to escape through his fingers. "Correct me if I'm wrong," he began around his straw, "but this feels suspiciously like a date."

"A date?" Ash shook his head while still trying to lick up his slowly melting ice cream cone. "No, no. You're merely paying me back for all the crap you put me through as a kid. I might have you buy me some CDs next. And don't tell me you can't afford it. I know you're loaded."

Gary laughed through his nose. "Relax, I'm just playing with you," he said. He leaned back in his chair and shrugged his shoulders. "And I guess I am. Anything else you'd like?"

"There is a hot little skirt and top number I've had my eye on. Plus some pumps that would really bring it all together. I have to order out for it, though." Ash grinned. "Sorta high fashion."

"I'm sure." Gary leaned on his hand, smirking. "I assume you intend to completely break my bank account as your personal form of revenge, then?"

Ash shrugged with a sly grin. "Maybe. Unless I'm wrong at reading your cues, you seem to like just about everything I wear, anyway. I'm sure you won't mind."

Gary laughed quietly. "I don't, but I hope you don't expect to get gifts on holidays after all of this." the boy raised an eyebrow then. "Are you going to be... around for the holidays?"

"Why?" Now Ash leaned in, a very temptress look on his face. "Would you miss me if I wasn't?"

"I'm just curious," Gary said, rolling his shoulders back. "I didn't know if you were going to be living here now or if you were just taking a break from traveling."

"I'm living here now," the boy answered swiftly.

"Oh, I see," Gary responded, nodding his head. "So you're done being a trainer?"

Brown eyes softened and looked down at his partially eaten ice cream cone. "Training Pokemon is fun for a while, but then you realize you're actually meant for something else. Even when it's something you never expected to happen... Remember?"

"Right, right," Gary said. Green eyes watched as brown fell towards his hands. "So what are you meant for?"

"I'm not exactly sure yet," he confessed. "It has something to do with Ashley, and she's not supposed to be a trainer."

Gary listened as he drained his milkshake. He shook his head slightly, laughing a little as he placed the now empty cup on the table. "Never thought I'd see the day," he sighed. "Being a trainer used to be all you ever wanted."

"Yeah? Well..." Brown eyes watched a drop of ice cream roll over his thumb. "The world didn't exactly want a trainer like me. So I came home."

"What happened?" Gary asked, leaning an elbow on the table.

"Lots of bad press. Nasty rumors. Name calling."

"Really?" Gary asked, frowning. "That must have been... hard to deal with."

"It was..." Ash sighed as the ice cream continued to melt onto his hand. "Sorry, Gary, I... I don't really want this anymore."

"That's fine," Gary said, nodding understandingly and putting his hand out, offering to take it. "I'll throw it out for you." Ash just nodded quietly and handed the no longer desired treat over to the other boy. "I'll walk you home if you want," Gary added as he threw out the ice cream and his own empty cup, before coming to stand over the table, again with his hand outstretched.

Ash had his hands in his lap and was staring down at them again. "Gary, what do you think? Honestly."

"Think of what? What you've chosen to do?" Gary asked. "I mean... I'm surprised, sure, but..."

"Do you think I'm wrong for doing it?" he asked, now casting his brown eyes up at his childhood friend. "Should I stop?"

Gary was quiet for a moment, but eventually ended up sighing and putting his hands down on the table. "In all honesty, it depends on what you want." He cast a critical eye down at the other boy. "I don't think it's wrong or whatever. But you and I both know that it's not a social norm. When you're not normal... people can and will give you shit for it. The question is... do you want to do this enough that you can put up with that? Because if what other people think is going to cut you down, then yes. You should stop. You're only going to hurt yourself if that's the case. Otherwise... no. Don't."

"You... You won't give me shit, right, Gary?" Ash asked hopefully. "You know I'm still the same. You're not going to stop being my friend, right?"

Gary offered his hand again. "Nah," he said, smiling slightly. "I may not really understand it, but I'm not gonna give you shit for it. It'd be pretty hypocritical of me, considering the last few days," he said with a small laugh at himself.

Finally the smaller boy smiled again. He took the offered hand and stood up. "I don't really understand it, either. It's just... How I feel, I guess. Thanks though, Gary."

"Don't mention it." Gary squeezed the boy's hand, then turned. He started to lead the way out of town, out through the shoppe and back towards the outlying homes. "You living at home?"

"Uh-huh," Ash answered with a nod. "Mom is really happy to have me home. She cooks all my meals and does all my laundry for me. I've told her she doesn't have to, but she says she likes it." He looked up at Gary and smiled. "You wanna stay for dinner? Mom is cooking motsunabe tonight. I can show you all my stuff until it's ready."

Again Gary looked surprised, but quickly struck the expression from his face and smiled with a shrug. "Sure, as long as your mom's okay with setting a place for one more."

"I'm sure she won't mind. She loves company. And you're practically family!"

When they headed inside, into the kitchen, Delila's face lit up. "Gary! Good to see you!" She bustled over to him and smiled widely. "How are you?"

"Evening, Mrs. Ketchum. I'm doing fine, and yourself?"

"I'm great, I'm great," she said. "What brings you here?"

"I invited him for dinner," Ash said. "Can he stay? You always make so much food. I figure there will be enough for him." The boy smiled at his mother. "Look what he got for me!" he said and held out to jewelry box for her to see. "I'm even wearing some pieces right now."

Gary blushed slightly as Delila cooed over the jewelry. "Of course he can stay. I'll have Mr. Mime set another place."

"Thanks, Mrs. Ketchum."

Ash grinned. "C'mon, Gary!" Still holding his hand, Ash dragged his friend to his bedroom. It was fairly large. When Ash had returned home, Brock and Misty were with him. All three worked to add some more space onto the small house. With all of Ash's new Pokemon, and all his new belongings, the house needed it. One of the walls was occupied by nothing but wigs. A corner to corner desk had two rows of heads sporting wigs. Then there were the shelves that held about three or four each. Almost every color you could think of was there, some even repeating only in a different style. Some were long, some short, ponytails, pigtails, braids, boy cuts, extravagant, simple, natural, festive, everything. "See? I told you."

"Whoah," Gary murmured, green eyes going a little wide as he looked up at the huge assortment. "You weren't kidding." Pikachu scampered up to them when they came into the room, his ears standing up in surprise.

"Hey, Pikachu," Ash said and scratched behind his Pokemon's pert ears. "Oh! You have to see this one. I had to actually work on the farm to earn this one since I could never pay for it." He crouched down in front of the desk and slid open its long doors. Inside was a head support sitting on velvet covered board. On the head was a wig made from 100 percent, fully mature Ninetales hair. It had been dyed to match Ash's natural color, but it was just as thick and shined just like it was still on the Pokemon. It was also long enough to reach at least the back of his thighs. "I save this one for special occasions."

Gary reached his hand out to lightly touch the wig with his fingertips. "Wow," he breathed, looking very impressed. "It's so soft. It must have taken a while to earn..."

Ash laughed and nodded. "I had to wash, brush, and feed a lot of Pokemon to get this. I was up at dawn almost every day and only getting to bed around midnight. I don't think I've ever worked harder." He looked fondly at the wig. "Totally worth it, though."

Gary stared and felt it for a bit longer before pulling his hand back. "Would you ever try and grow your real hair long?" he asked, looking over at the other boy.

"Maybe... I don't think it would be nearly as nice, though," Ash replied. "My hair is kind of thin. Plus if I grew it out, I wouldn't be able to wear my others wigs."

"I guess that's true," Gary said, shrugging his shoulders and finding a chair in the boy's room, promptly making himself comfortable for the wait until dinner. "But is it really thin? I always thought your hair looked good."

Ash touched his head and blushed. "Really? Well, I mean, it's not thick like a Ninetales' fur," he said. "You think I should try growing it out?"

"Why not?" Gary asked, leaning back against the back of the chair. "What do you have to lose?"

Ash shrugged. "It could look stupid."

"And then you could cut it off," Gary said with a laugh. "When I tried growing mine out and it looked stupid I just hacked it off. No harm done."

"Doesn't it take a long time?" Ash looked at Gary and tilted his head. "I don't really think you're meant for long hair."

"I figured I'd try," Gary said with a shrug. "And it depends. Some people's hair grows faster than others."

Ash thought about this before nodding. "I guess I could give it a try. I might even like it."

"I just thought it might look good if you used your real hair, that's all," Gary said, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, you always had pretty nice hair. Even if you never did brush it," he added with a snicker.

Ash laughed lightly as well, but he was thinking underneath the smile. After some quiet contemplation, he pulled off the braided wig and cap for the second time that day. Both were set on a head support before Ash sat in front of his mirror and began brushing his own hair. Once he was done, it was nicely smoothed and the tips just brushed his shoulders. "How's this?" he asked and turned to face Gary.

"It looks nice," Gary said with a smile. He reached his hand out to brush his fingers through the boy's hair. "You have been growing it out a bit," he confirmed with a grin.

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I have..." Ash blushed again. The feeling of Gary's fingers running through his hair was... nice. He didn't realize it, but those brown eyes of his were staring fondly at the other boy.

Gary kept running his fingers through Ash's hair for a moment, before noticing the boy's brown eyes trained on him. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Ash just blinked with something of a lazy smile on his face. "Hmm?"

"You're staring, is something wrong?" Gary repeated, only for his expression to fall arrogantly amused. "Or are you falling for me?"

"O-Of course not!" Ash blurted out while shaking his head.

"Sure you're not," Gary snickered, putting his hands behind his head.

Ash frowned. "What would be the point? You like girls, right?"

"Apparently my earring says otherwise," Gary responded with a shrug of his shoulders and an expression that made it hard to tell if he was joking or not.

"Yeah, well... I'm still not falling for you," Ash said as he turned his attention to the closet where he started looking for something else to wear.

"If you say so," Gary whistled as he flopped back onto the chair.

Pikachu lept onto his lap, tail twitching. "Chu!"

It was a walk-in closet, so Ash was able to close the door while he changed. It was a somewhat delicate process that he didn't want Gary to see. When the boy finally emerged, he looked like a boy in baggy jeans and a green shirt with a band name on the front. "I bet Pikachu is glad we finally started hanging out."

Gary wouldn't allow himself to look disappointed. "Yeah, I'm sure. Umbreon would probably be excited too," he said as he scratched behind Pikachu's ears.

Ash laughed. "He sure tried hard enough to get us together, and to make sure you knew who I was. Pokemon can be so weird sometimes. I never really know for sure what they're thinking. What they know about us."

"They're pretty complex," Gary agreed, laughing quietly. "Umbreon's especially expressive. He always tries to help me out and communicate his ideas as best as he can. I feel like if he could talk he'd have a million things to lecture me about."

"You could use it," Ash joked. "C'mon, let's go see if dinner is ready."

Gary rolled his eyes, picking Pikachu up and heading downstairs after Ash. Pikachu balanced himself on the boy's shoulder as they headed downstairs until he sat at the table, and then he lept onto the center of the table. The rest of Ash's team quickly joined, and Gary's eyes went wide as he looked at the Pokemon. "Wow, you've got a lot of new ones, huh?" he murmured as he pet down Buizel's back.

Ash nodded. "Yup, sure do. I've been meaning to trade a few out from some of my old ones. I want to rotate them. You know, give them all equal time with me." The boy took his seat and gestured to the empty chair next to him.

Gary sat next to him, and Buizel chased after him so he could keep getting scratched. "Have you not done that yet because you were avoiding the lab?" Gary asked with a knowing expression.

Ash huffed softly. "You and I both know that's why."

"I figured," Gary said, rolling his shoulders back. He debated between laughing or looking offended, and sort of got a mix as he went back to scratching Buizel's spine, which made the Pokemon purr happily.

"Now that the cat is out of the bag, though, I'll be coming by tomorrow to do a trade. I want Bulbasaur for sure. Been way too long since I saw him last." Ash served himself a bowlful of motsunabe and then one for Gary. "Fork or chopsticks?"

"Chopsticks," Gary murmured, taking them and the bowl with a nod of his head. "Your Pokemon are all really well behaved. They get along with pretty much all of the other Pokemon when I let them out of their balls... though Muk is a little... overenthusiastic sometimes."

Ash laughed. "Yeah, that's his personality. If you let him out at night instead, he calms down. I think the sunlight is like... over-stimulating or something."

"Huh. Good to know." Gary fell quiet as he started to eat. He was rather good with a pair of chopsticks, which was definitely not his style a few years ago. When Delila joined them at the table, he stopped to say, "This is great, Mrs. Ketchum."

"Mom makes the best, like, everything," Ash said with a proud smile. "I don't think she ever cooked anything I didn't like. Brock's cooking was good when it came to eating away from home, but... Nothing beats my mom's food."

"Thank you, boys," Delila said with a smile as she sat down and joined them for the meal. She and Gary talked as if they were old friends. He seemed to know all of her friends by first name and she seemed to be updated on all of the research he'd been conducting in his grandfather's lab. Just like the way he'd talked to Ash when he thought he was a girl, Gary used a polite tone that he seemed to have adopted over the years when speaking with them.

Ash was glad that Gary was so well-behaved with his mother. If there was one thing we would never tolerate, it would be someone disrespecting the woman who raised him. Especially after the way his father left them. Ash also thought about what Gary had said earlier that day about being envious of Ash having a mother. It seemed that in his absence, the two had bonded quite well.

When dinner was over, Gary even offered to help clean up, though Delila refused since she already had the aid of Mr. Mime. He tried to insist, but she insisted right back, and eventually he found himself joining Ash in the foyer. "I guess it's time for me to say good night, then," the brunet said. "Thanks for inviting me over."

"No problem. Thanks for coming." Ash stood awkwardly in front of the other boy for a moment. He couldn't manage eye contact. Deciding to just do it, Ash gave Gary a fast, yet strong hug. "Thanks, Gary, night!" he blurted all at once as he ran to his room.

Gary had opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but lost his breath when he was squeezed by the strong hug. He watched Ash run upstairs and couldn't help a slight smile, rubbing his ribs as he turned and left. Even if the day had taken sort of an unexpected turn, he was content.


	3. Trying to Grow Up

Ash showed up at the laboratory the next day ready to make his trades. He was sporting a very short boy cut wig, strawberry blonde in color. The boy's slim stomach was bared thanks to the baggy jeans that hung low despite the belt and the orange tube top that featured a graffiti style Charmeleon on the front. "Gary?" Ash called out as he walked inside, looking around. "Gary, I'm here!"

Gary was in much the same position he was last time Ash had been to the lab, though without the Eevees jumping all over the place. Instead, only Umbreon was snoozing by his chair as his fingers tapped away at the keyboard in front of him. When he heard his name he spun around in his office chair, one hand lingering on the desk and the other arm coming to rest on the back of his chair. He had on a labcoat, opened in front to expose his regular purple shirt beneath and had on a pair of glasses that he quickly took off and tucked into his front coat pocket. "Hey," he greeted, flicking two fingers in a salute of a greeting.

Ash grinned. "You wear specks?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Gary answered, turning back to the screen and coughing into his fist.

"I think you dooooo," sang Ash. He snuck up behind the other, draping his arms around the scientist. "Getting old?" he whispered into Gary's ear before snatching the glasses from the coat pocket and dashing off with them.

Gary shuddered in surprise, blushing one second before leaping to his feet the next. "H-hey!" he shouted after him, quickly giving chase, trying to grab the glasses back from the other boy.

Ash laughed and placed the glasses on his own face. "Ooh! Look at me! I'm Gary Oak, big-headed Pokemon genius extraordinare with tight pants and a million cats!" Gary swiped fruitlessly at the glasses, but Ash kept dodging out of the way. He grit his teeth and tried to speed up, but wound up accidentally tripping over a piece of equipment that he didn't notice with his impaired eyesight, shouting and falling flat on his face. "Oh my gosh!" Ash skid to a stop and turned to run back towards Gary. "Are you okay? What happened, man?"

Gary rolled onto his back with a groan, lifting his hand up to demand the glasses back. "Those aren't just for reading, I have trouble seeing without them," he admitted in a quiet grumble.

"Oh... Oh, man, I'm sorry." He at once removed the glasses and carefully slipped them back over the bridge of Gary's nose. "You should have said something," Ash insisted. "I wouldn't have done that if I knew."

"It's okay," Gary laughed, lifting himself up and brushing himself off. "And I'm not getting old," he added, turning his nose up. "I just always wore contacts."

"So the amazing Gary Oak actually does have a flaw, eh?" Ash said with a smile. "Nice to know you're actually human. Not to mention admitting it."

Gary rolled his eyes, smirking slightly. "It makes me endearing, that's all," he said with a shrug as he went back over to his chair, leaning back into it so the wheels carried him a short distance across the metallic lab floor.

Ash watched as Gary used the chair to move himself around the lab. "You sure rely on that chair a lot."

"It's comfortable," Gary said, looking over the back. "Something wrong with that?"

"No, I just hope you aren't going to tell me that your legs are going too," Ash replied with a shrug.

Gary's face fell into an unamused expression. "Very funny," he huffed. "You here to swap out your Pokemon?"

Ash frowned. "I wasn't trying to be funny. I was serious... I don't want bad stuff happening to you, Gary."

"I'm fine," Gary said, shaking his head. "I was just outside running with Arcanine and Umbreon this morning so I've been sitting down. There's nothing wrong with my legs."

"Good. I'm glad." Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out five Pokeballs. "I'm here for Bulbasaur, Swellow, Donphan, one Tauros, and Torkoal."

"Alright. Hand 'em over." Gary took the Pokeballs and, perhaps to make a point, got up and walked over to a machine that had six small enclaves on its surface. He placed them into five of them, and turned on the computer attached to it. One by one the Pokeballs vanished in a flash of white light and were replaced by five different ones. "That's them," Gary said, gesturing to the Pokeballs.

Ash watched as the Pokeballs were exchanged and then looked at Gary. "You haven't said one thing about how I look today," he pouted.

Gary looked over his shoulder with a quirked brow and a smirk. "Seriously?" he asked, as he collected up the Pokeballs. Erasing the expression, he approached the other boy, got down on one knee, and held up the Pokeballs to him. "You look lovely today," he said, mustering up the most sincere tone of voice that he could.

Except Ash seemed to pick up on the mocking insincerity behind Gary's voice, so he frowned, offended, and snatched the Pokeballs from him. "You don't have to be such an ass," Ash hissed and started to walk away, now regretting his choice to wear such revealing clothes.

Gary let out a long breath, getting up and trotting after the boy, putting a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, Ash, I'm just having some fun with you. It was just funny how you felt a need to ask for it, that's all."

Ash smacked the hand away. "My name is Ashle-!" The swift turn on his heels had Ash looking right up into Gary's face. He saw the same grin that ridiculed him in their youth, but he also saw the gentle eyes found in their new maturity. Ash just didn't know which one to believe. "It's not wrong to want to hear it," he finally mumbled.

Gary swiftly retracted his hand to his side. Green eyes stared into brown for a moment, and Gary seemed to need to take a few more to clear his voice and mind of all arrogance and snide remarks. Finally, his voice sounded true, after he leaned in just a bit closer. "You look great, Ashley. I'm sorry."

Ash let out a long breath and nodded. "Thank you, Gary. You look handsome in your glasses, by the way."

"A-are you serious?" Gary asked, laughing a little and touching the thin frames with two fingers. "Most people say they look dorky."

Ash shook his head. "Not at all. I think they look really nice. I mean... The style _is_ very fashionable right now. I should know."

"Thanks," Gary said, smiling slightly and resisting the urge to push the glasses up, insteading letting them slide down his nose. "I'm glad you think so..."

"Now c'mon," the, today, redhead said and slipped his arm in with Gary's. "You owe me some CD shopping."

"R-right," Gary laughed, putting one hand up. "Just let me put my contacts in, okay? I uh... only wear my glasses when I'm working."

Ash gave Gary a little sympathetic smile, but nodded anyway. "Okay. Although, I don't think it would hurt to leave them on."

"I'd just rather put my contacts in," he responded. He vanished into the bathroom for a few minutes, reemerging without his glasses or labcoat. He found Ash waiting for him at the door and met him, opening the door and holding it for the other, and soon enough they were descending the steps towards town.

"The Bitter Luxrays just came out with a new album," Ash said as they entered the shopping area. "Oh! And the Spinda Neons have this rare B-Side that the store just got in. I gotta have that. Also, I just need the LunaTones self-titled album to complete my collection of their stuff."

"I didn't know you were so into music," Gary admitted as he found himself being pulled down aisles of CDs with covers he couldn't have picked out of a pile, but Ash seemed to know by heart. He was at once able to identify and pick out the ones he wanted.

Ash beamed. "I love music! Not so much when we were kids, but I got really into it about a year or so ago. Music made me feel so much better about myself and what I was going through. I just dove into the scene and started listening to anything I could get my hands on. I even saw 10,000 Minuns in concert once. It was so epic," he said, giving one CD after another to Gary to hold.

Gary eventually found himself with a stack so high that he had to hold it against his chest with one arm to make sure it wasn't at risk of falling. "You just keep surprising me," he laughed, as he leaned back when Ash placed a few more CDs on top of the pile and he tucked it under his chin for extra security.

"In a good way, I hope." Ash turned around to inspect his collection. After scanning his selection of titles, he nodded contentedly. "Yeah, this should hold me over for a while. Let's go check out!"

Gary brought the CDs up to the counter and put the stack down, stabilizing it with one hand as the other routed into his pocket to grab his wallet. As he watched the price climb, he stopped rifling through the bills and had to take out a credit card instead. "You're gonna bankrupt me," he laughed as he turned it over to the cashier.

Ash laced his fingers behind his back and rocked back n forth on his feet. "Maybe if I was going to make a regular thing out of this, but I think you can afford it just this once."

Gary laughed again and shook his head. He took the card back and was given the CDs in several plastic bags. "Is there anything else you wanted to get?" he asked despite what he'd said.

"Can we go to Armoire Gardevior to look at dresses?" Ash asked hopefully, even batting his thick eyelashes as he did so.

"U-uh, sure," Gary said, nodding his head. He was definately a sucker for the puppydog eyes.

Ash clapped his hands. "Yay!" He grabbed Gary's arm once more and dragged him from the music store towards the dress store instead. Gary felt a little embarrassed in himself. He'd made a fuss about wearing his glasses in public, but Ash didn't have any problem dressing the way he wanted to or shopping for dresses in public. He quickly shook off the notion. When he entered the dress store, it was like entering another world. The only time he'd ever been in one was with his sister once, a long time ago. He looked at the aisles of dresses and his eyebrows came together, almost a little intimidated by the huge selection. "Oh! Oh! Club dresses! I should totally get at least one. Saffron City has some of the best underground parties, but you can't get in unless you're hot," Ash said, very informative on the matter. He ran around the one section of the store, picking out ones he liked, and then had Gary sit on the couch just outside the fitting rooms. The first dress Ash came out in was an enticing little gold number. The shoulders were nothing but strings tied off in bows with a rhinestone embellished neckline. It had a unique flair thanks to the half draped kinomo sleeves and a tummy slit that added a little sex appeal. Not to mention the short, fitted bottom. "How's this one?" Ash asked and did a turn in the dress.

It was the first dress and Gary's jaw had already dropped. He quickly closed his mouth and put his chin on his hand, elbow on the armrest, though. "It looks, uh, awesome," he said, stumbling for the word he wanted.

"Yeah?" Ash continued to pose this way and that in the dress. "It also comes in black, but I kinda like the gold. It's really eye-catching."

"And you have so many wigs that it'll match your hair no matter what," Gary added. "The black would look good if you used your real hair, I think..."

Ash hummed. "Maybe... But there's no way I could wear my real hair with something like this. I can't do anything with it."

"Then get the gold," Gary said, rolling his shoulders and leaning back on the couch. "It looks good on you."

"Right." Ash disappeared into the fitting room and emerged wearing a black and maroon dress even more revealing than the last. It had a very deep v-neckline and the sides cut out. The low open back was held together only by a single string that tied in the back. The cut was so low, it showed the small Butterfree tattoo Ash had gotten just shy of the small of his back. Then of course there was the short skirt. "And this one?"

Gary's hand came to cover his cheeks and mouth. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if this was part of the boy's revenge. "That looks great, too..." he managed.

Ash jumped excitedly. "Sweet! Okay, now there's just one more, then we'll move on to the next section." The boy disappeared and then reappeared in perhaps the most risque outfit yet. It was a sexy black pleather tube dress. There was a pleated panel on the front for extra detail. Not to mention the way the dress barely fell to mid-thigh on his toned legs. "Too much?" Ash asked, standing with one leg out and his hip popped to that side.

"U-uh, just a little," Gary stammered, still covering his face. "It's kinda... you can kinda see..."

"What?" Ash tried to look down at himself. "My junk?"

"Just a bit," Gary answered, putting up one hand and holding two of his fingers apart to go with his words.

Ash just nodded like it was no big deal. "Yeah, I kinda thought that might happen. Every girl needs a LBD though, so we have to keep looking. I won't be caught dead with a date and no dress. I won't!" he huffed dramatically with a flourish of his hand.

"LBD? What's that mean?" Gary asked, only for his mind to wander through the rest of the boy's words a moment later. "And did you say date?"

"Little black dress, duh! And yes, date. What?" Ash raised an eyebrow at Gary. "I can't go on dates?"

"No, no, I..." Gary moved his hand to tap his chin. "I'm just envious."

"Why? I'm dating boys, not girls."

"Still, a date's a date. I'm envious that you're able to get them."

Ash nibbled on his bottom lip. "Well... I never said I actually had a date, or that I've ever had one... really."

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Really? Not one?"

The boy shrugged slightly. "Not one that I'd like to talk about, no."

Now Gary just looked sort of confused, but he decided to let it go. "Well... maybe you should pick a dress that isn't so tight on bottom," he suggested, switching the subject back to what it had been.

"Well I really liked the first two, so I think I'll get them." Ash vanished into the dressing room and came out in his regular clothes again. "I want us to look at mini dresses next. Those are really fun and I can wear them on a daily basis, too."

"Alright," Gary said, hoisting himself up from the couch to follow the other boy through the aisles. Though he quickly found himself playing the role of pack mule for the collection of dresses Ash quickly amassed, Gary didn't much complain. Maybe because it was worth it to lug the clothing around the store if the payoff was watching the other model them.

Ash looked at the some odd dozen dresses Gary was carrying around, and then did a glance around the store. "What do you think about sweater dresses?"

"Sweater dresses?" Gary asked. "You mean girls don't just wear long sweaters and neglect to put pants on?"

"Psssh..." Ash rolled his eyes. "Only if they're sluts."

"Huh. Well, I learned something today." Gary scratched at the back of his head. "I guess I wouldn't advise getting them since I always assumed they weren't meant to be worn that way."

The redhead frowned. "What?"

"If I saw someone wearing a sweater dress I'd think it was just a sweater with no pants," Gary explained. "I think most guys would think that."

"Even if it was a hooded dress? Like this one." Ash scampered over to a grey and dusty blue striped sweater dress. "See? It would almost come off my shoulders, the sleeves go down to the hands, and the length is almost to the knees. I could wear some black stockings and boot with it."

"I'd probably still first take note that you weren't wearing pants," Gary said with a smirk.

At first Ash just frowned, but then he shrugged and nodded. "I appreciate your honesty. A sweater dress was the only other thing I thought about getting. I'm ready to check out if you are."

"Sure." Gary brought the dresses up to the counter and paid for them with that glimmering credit card. With them in one hand and the bag of CDs in the other, he looked around the town. "Is there anything else?"

Ash shook his head. "I think I've spent enough of your money," he replied with a laugh.

"Just think it as all of the birthday and holiday presents I've missed giving you while we were apart," Gary said with a shrug and a laugh.

"Yeah, but you don't really take your friend clothes shopping. You do that with someone you're dating," Ash insisted. "I have plenty. Plus I'm sure you're done being embarrassed."

"It's fine," Gary said with a smile. "It's not like anyone could tell the difference..."

Ash sighed. "Maybe..." Brown eyes swept over what their small town had to over and then turned back to Gary. "Some lunch might be nice."

"Alright," Gary said. "I know this good place, follow me." He led the way to a small cafe, where they were allowed to seat themselves in a corner of the garden behind the restaurant. As soon as he sat down Gary hooked the bags over the back of his chair.

"This place is so cute," Ash said, looking around the place. "I had no idea it was even here. How did you find it?"

"Your mother suggested it. I was just making my own lunch at the lab and she suggested going here with someone sometime," Gary responded with a smile.

The boy was quiet for a while, just running his finger around the rim of the complementary water glass. "You spent a lot of time with my mom, huh?"

"I guess so," Gary said, shrugging his shoulders. "She'd come up to the lab to see if my grandfather had come back. And then she'd end up just talking with me about this or that while I worked... She's good company."

"You didn't ask her stuff did you?" Ash asked, his tone slightly that of a warning. "Personal stuff?"

"Nah," Gary said, putting his hand up to idly dismiss the boy's suspicions. "I'd just ask how you were doing. If you'd called with particularly interesting battle stories. Sometimes I'd ask about what you told her about Hoenn and Sinnoh... I haven't been, after all."

Ash nodded. "Good. I don't like my mom to be sad, Gary. She doesn't deserve that. I never want her to have to think about things that hurt her. I know you wouldn't do it on purpose, but... Be careful. Got it?"

Gary frowned a bit, scratching at the back of his head. "Yeah, sure... I'll try not to... do that."

"Good." With that, Ash picked up his menu and began browsing through the selection. He still had his boy appetite, but a pretty young lady ordering that much food would be embarrassing. Whenever he ate out, Ash had to choose carefully and then just go home to pork out on fridge food.

"What are you thinking about?" Gary asked with a sort of knowing expression, putting his elbow on the table and his head in his hand.

"If the tomatos on these sandwiches are in season," Ash answered.

"I meant what are you thinking of ordering," Gary clarified with a snicker.

The boy nibbled on his bottom lip. "I'm not really sure..."

"We could share some things if you can't decide... I can order it," Gary murmured, still smiling knowingly.

"I... I shouldn't..." Ash said, shaking his head. "This little club sandwich with the fruit cup looks good. I'll... I'll just get that, yeah."

"Are you sure?" Gary probed, reaching across the table to teasingly pull at the other boy's cheek. "I wouldn't want you going home hungry."

Ash ducked his head down and away. "I have to get used to eating like this, Gary. I'll be fine."

"Don't torture yourself," Gary said with a sigh. "Girls can have appetites too."

"Th-Then..." Ash blushed, his face still turned down. "I want t-two sandwiches, a chicken salad bowl, the fruit, and a piece of cake."

Gary smiled and leaned back in his chair. When the waitress came around he ordered a sandwhich for each of them, one salad for himself, the other for his companion, and the fruit and cake for himself as well. When the waitress nodded and left, the brunet looked at Ash with another small snicker. "There, was that so bad?"

Brown eyes glanced up at the taller boy. "Well it's easier with you here. You can order all the extra stuff I'm hungry for. When it's just me, I don't have that little trick up my sleeve."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that now," Gary said with a laugh. "You're welcome to invite me out to lunch when you actually want to have a whole meal."

"Some days I'm just sooooo hungry," Ash groaned. "I could eat enough to feed a Rapidash and still feel hungry. Mom says it's because I'm still growing, but I haven't actually grown more than an inch in the past year. I'd hate to think I'm going to have one of those growth spurts. I mean, for one they're like so painful and I don't wanna go through that. Another part is that you can get stretch marks. Stretch marks, Gary! How am I supposed to look cute and wear all my awesome clothes if I have stretch marks on my legs, arms, and back? Huh? Well I can't. I would die. I really would."

Gary listened with an amused expression on his face, nodding his head a bit dumbly. He still couldn't believe Ash was talking like that, and then it hit him that they had just come from shopping for dresses, too. It really made Gary look at the boy in a totally different light. It almost felt like he was talking to a different person. Maybe that was why he hadn't felt inclined to be a jerk out of habit. "I'm sure you'd figure out a way."

Ash waved from his wrist. "Well sure I could, but it's just more work that I wouldn't look forward to doing." Gary rolled his eyes, laughing through his nose. Eventually their food arrived, most of it being put down in front of Gary. The brunet suggested Ash pick from his plate, and that way he wouldn't end up with all of the empty plates in front of him. Gary thought it was funny how much trouble Ash would go through to appear lady-like, but he wouldn't argue. He could understand working hard to fit into expectations. "Thanks for being such a good sport, Gary," Ash finally said about half way through their meal. "I know some of this must be weird for you, but I'm glad you've been such a great friend to me. I really needed that."

"I should be thanking you," Gary said with a slight smile. "I haven't gone out and done anything in what feels like ages. It's... nice to have someone to do things with."

"Don't tell me you were actually turning into a hermit," Ash said around a bite of cake. "Even the professor managed to get out and do stuff."

"Gramps managed to go out and do research stuff," Gary clarified. "If you called him and he was heading out the door, it was always field research this or going to another region to study Pokemon that. Otherwise he was always in the lab. And I can understand why." He shrugged his shoulders, leaning against the table again. "People just don't want to hang out with researchers."

Ash frowned curiously. "Well why not? Researchers know all sorts of cool stuff. You guys know why Pokemon do what they do, where they came from, where they're going. It's awesome! I probably would have tried being a researcher if I was smarter."

Gary shrugged again as he picked at his salad. "You don't hang out with researchers, that's all. You get some tips and maybe a Pokemon from them, and then you go hang out with other trainers or coordinators or breeders or what have you. I'm not really a battler anymore since I stopped going for badges, and I'm too young to be seen by other researchers as a colleague, so I don't fit into either group."

"Cause I totally haven't been hanging out with a researcher the past couple of days," Ash retorted.

"Well that's you. You know me," Gary said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, it's hard for me to make new aquaintences."

Ash shook his head. "Well we are just gonna have to fix that," he said. "You should come to that party with me. Do you have any clubbing outfits?"

"Clubbing outfits? I've probably got... something..." Gary murmured, stroking his chin. "You'll have to let me go through my closet."

"You still have your corvette, right?" Ash asked. "We should show up in that. Make heads turn!"

"That thing?" Gary responded, frowning in thought. "The seats are a little busted up. I could get it fixed up, though. When's this party?"

Ash pouted. "This Saturday. Can you get them fixed in time?"

"Sure, that'd be enough time. They just need some cleaning," Gary said, shrugging his shoulders. "I just didn't take very good care of it while I was out on the road."

"Why not?" Ash exclaimed. "It was such a nice car! Even I would have worked to take care of it."

"I didn't care back then, Ash. You know I didn't know the value of a dollar, or anything for that matter. So the seats are a little messed up. The hood and back might also need some buffing out. It's nothing that can't be fixed."

"You'd better," he said while pointing a finger at Gary. "Because I refuse to walk or even ride a bike there. It's too far and I'll get too sweaty. Any sweat I do work up should only be on the dance floor."

Gary laughed, leaning back in his chair. "Relax, I wouldn't want to walk, either. I'll get it put into the shop tonight and it'll be ready by this weekend, no problem."

The boy clapped. "We'll be so hot, Gary!"

Gary laughed, nodding his head. "Yeah, I guess we will be." The rest of lunch went much the same way, with Ash busily and excitedly preparing their excursion for the weekend. Gary seemed to get more into the idea the longer Ash talked about it. When it was time for them to depart, it was in front of the Ketchum residence, with Gary handing over everything he'd bought the boy that day and promising he'd go get the car fixed up.

"We won't leave until nine o' clock," Ash informed him. "But I'm coming over at eight to make sure you look good."

"Alright," Gary said with a smirk. "Though you have no need to worry. I look good every day."

Ash smirked back with the addition of a raised eyebrow. "Oh really? But do you look Saffron Underground good? I'm telling you, Gary. Only the hottest and sexiest individuals get into these parties. Don't let me down!" he concluded with a teasing laugh.

Gary scoffed, half-lidding his eyes and brushing his hair back. "Don't even worry about it. There isn't a chance that I'll be left sitting in the car." With that, he waved his hand. "I'll see you this weekend," he said, before turning to head back to the lab.

"Bye, Gary!" Ash called after him and waved excitedly. Once the other boy was out of sight, Ash bit his lip, smiling, and ran inside the house. "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!"

Delila was in the living room watching television, and looked over her shoulder when her son came rushing into the house. "What is it, honey?" she asked, eyes widening with surprise at his excitement.

"Look at all the stuff Gary bought for me!" he said and set all the bags down on the coffee table. "We got CDs and a bunch of new dresses for me. He even took me to this cute little cafe for lunch! He said you told him about it. Gary was really nice and ordered extra food so I wouldn't be so hungry. And! And! He's gonna fix up his old car so we can go to a party on Saturday! It's so awesome!"

"Wow, all of that?" Delila asked, looking rather surprised. She leaned forward to look through the bags, pulling out some of the dresses. She looked at the price tags and nearly had a heart attack. "He bought these for you?"

Ash nodded. "Uh-huh! He said he was happy to do it. He told me to think of them as all the birthdays and holidays he never celebrated with me."

"This must have cost a fortune..." Delila murmured as she looked over the clothing. "Ash... Don't take advantage of him," she said firmly. "It was very nice of him to buy all of this for you, but you have to make sure not to use him for his kindness."

"Oh, I won't mom. I promise." Ash sat down next to his mother, looking her in the eyes. "I even told him so. This was the only time I'm ever gonna ask him to do something like this. I mean... All of this is way more than I ever thought I would have in the first place. I don't see myself wanting more stuff anytime in the near future. At least not until next year when the new styles come out. I'm still willing to work for the things I want. You know me. I feel proud earning my things. It was just..." He looked down and smiled a little. "Nice getting spoiled for once."

Delila smiled slightly. "I'm sure it is. Just be careful, okay? It's easy to get carried away with getting pampered... I know it may seem like he owes you, but if you hold that over his head..." She frowned, folding her hands together. "Well, from what he's told me, it would probably make him feel terrible to be constantly reminded of how he acted."

"I know, but... I hate when people get stuck up and self-righteous for no reason. Gary and I used to be best friends. We did everything together! Then, just because he became a trainer who happened to be the grandson of Professor Oak, he got all arrogant and left me alone." Ash bit his lip and clenched his hands against his pant legs. "It just makes me think of dad, and I get so angry..."

"Ash..." Delila frowned sympathetically and reached her hands over, picking up his in her own. "You know it's not the same. Kids aren't as rational and they make mistakes. Adults get held responsible for their actions, but... people can change a lot when they grow up. Gary really is trying his best to atone and change... but he's been having a rough time of it. Just try and forget about the way he was, even if it's hard. Otherwise you won't be able to become friends again."

Ash nodded, still biting a little too hard on his bottom lip. "I... I really want us to be friends again, mom. I do."

"Then you'll need to try and let the past go." Delila sighed quietly. "I know it's hard, but you can't deny that you've matured and changed since then, too. You know you'd feel terrible if everyone still treated you like they did when you were ten."

This time Ash laughed. "That's an age I never want to go back to."

"Well, maybe Gary feels the same way." Delila nodded her head knowingly. "If you start with a blank slate, you two will get along just fine."

"Yeah, you're right mom." He gave her the usual teenage sigh and roll of the eyes, though he was also smiling. "As usual."

She laughed gently. "I've got more life experience, that's all. Now go on, it's late. You should get to bed." She pinched his cheek gently. "And you can go to that party this weekend, but don't do anything I wouldn't do. And if you don't think he can drive you back for whatever reason, you can call me and I'll book you boys a hotel room for the night."

Ash nodded. "Thanks mom. I'll be careful." He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek before gathering up his bags of new things and running off to his room.


	4. The Party

The weekend came quickly, like the days just zoomed by. But when it was finally Saturday, Gary's day felt like it was dragging. He stood in front of the closet in the bedroom of the small apartment he had off of the labratory's main floor, and he kept checking the clock. It was getting close to when Ash was supposed to be coming to check what he was wearing. He had on a pair of dark, torn-up skinnyjeans, smart, polished black shoes, and an elaborate chain necklace. On one wrist, a black leather cuff with his name on it in silver. Hanging off his matching belt was another chain. He kept second-guessing and switching his shirts, though. From a sleeveless, torso-hugging silver muscle shirt to a smart black button-up. Eventually he decided to layer the two, leaving the buttons undone, and put in his earring. Finally he was able to rush off to the bathroom to switch his glasses for contacts.

Ash had been over enough times by now to just let himself inside, even as far as Gary's living quarters. The clicking sound of his platform, 4.5 inch heel, black and red slingback shoes were heard even before his voice. Ash had gone with the maroon and black dress with the cut out sides and deviously low back. His ankles and arms jingled with the sound of dozens of silver rings which were also sported in his ears. The wig was black and cut very short in the back. The left side was tapered over his ear where the part swooped to the right and into the layered bangs that covered the entire side of his face. A large streak of maroon in the bang accented the dress. The one eye that could be seen was heavy with eye liner and dark red eyeshadow that went both above and below his eye. The final touch was the sinful color painted on his lips. "Oh god, Gary, you are not wearing that silver nightmare," Ash said from where he peeked in through the bathroom door.

"What?" Gary asked, looking over surprisedly, frowning. He poked himself in the eye, gritting his teeth. "Hold on." He turned back to the mirror to get his second contact in before coming out into the bedroom. When he emerged, rubbing the one eye, the first thing his other caught was the sight of Ash. He bit his lip slightly. It must have been a crime for a boy to be that good at dressing like a girl. Then he frowned, sweeping his hands out to the sides. "What's wrong with it?"

"Take that silver muscle shirt off," Ash intructed while pointing his finger. "This isn't a night at the Roxbury in 1998."

Gary sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine, fine." First he discarded the black button-up onto his bed, then he pulled off the muscle shirt, letting it fall on top of it.

"Okay, now put the black one back on, only leave the top three buttons open," he went on to instruct. "That way you can flash your jewelry and your skin at the same time."

Gary fished out the black shirt and put it on, buttoning it up as he was instructed. He fixed the collar and smoothed out the bottom. "Anything else, fashionista?" he asked.

Ash shook his head with a very pleased look on his face. "Nope, you look great. You scream eligible. Any girl who sees you like this wouldn't care if you were a Slowpoke breeder, much less a researcher."

"We'll see," Gary said, smirking and crossing his arms. "You'd better be right." He started towards the door, grabbing his keys off a small hook. He stopped, looking over his shoulders. "You look fantastic, too." He paused for a moment before saying, "I'll go pull the car up," and heading out the door.

The boy smiled and bowed his head. Ash checked himself in the mirror. Wig secure, makeup clean, boobs on straight. Yup! Looked like everything was in order. Satisfied, Ash ran out to the front of the lab where Gary was already waiting with the car. "That was fast." Ash stopped just short of the candy red corvette, obviously recently washed and sparkling with a fresh wax job. The seats had new leather and the floors had been vacuumed too. "Oh Gary, she's gorgeous," Ash breathed and ghosted his fingers over the edge of the door.

"Yeah, I wish I had appreciated this car back in the day," Gary said, shrugging. He had the driver's seat leaned back and his arm propped up on the headrest of the passenger's. "Hop in," he said, jerking his head for the other boy to vault the door.

Ash just gave Gary and incredibly skeptical look using an arch of the brow and the shake of his head. He'd spent too much time and careful effort getting himself tucked away to go ruining it with a daring jump. In fact, Ash had expected Gary to get out and open the door for him, but he supposed since they weren't dating, that would be too much. So Ash just walked up to the sleek red car, opened the door, slipped in one leg at a time, and closed the door again. "Let's roll."

Gary raised a brow, but grinned. "Alright, we're off." He slammed his foot on the gas and the car roared before they took off down the road that led them out of town. Since the car had a peeled back roof, Gary's hair and Ash's wig both blew in the breeze as he got on the road. He didn't seem too concerned with his speed; the road was completely empty, after all.

The intense speed had Ash a little concerned over his wig. The last thing he wanted was for it to get blown off and trashed in the road. It seemed to be staying on, though, so he decided to relax. The boy bit his lip with a smile on his face. Speed. They were going so fast. He loved it. Go fast was almost like flying. Ash tucked his kneed under his body and pushed up so he was sitting on the headrest of his seat. He threw his arms in the air and shouted excitedly.

Gary looked up at the other boy confusedly when he started to get up, but smirked when he saw what he was doing. He revved the engine and continued down the road, going just fast enough to not put Ash at risk of falling off. He'd always ask his chauffeur to go fast as he and his cheerleaders sat on top of the back of the car. Half because he too loved the feeling... half to make their skirts obsolete.

"I feel so alive!" Ash cried excitedly. "Gary, this is the best!"

"Isn't it though?" Gary responded back, grinning as the engine roared again. "It feels good to finally get behind the wheel of this thing!"

"Have you never driven before?" Ash asked, looking down at the other boy.

"Why would I? I've got Pokemon to ride! Last time I used this car I had a chauffeur."

Ash looked a little nervous. "Well, you _know how_ to drive right? You aren't just winging it right now?"

"Relax, I know how," Gary laughed. "You didn't think to ask before you got in?"

"I didn't think you'd be driving if you didn't know how!" Ash insisted.

"Well you can relax, I know how to drive," Gary responded, slowing down to make a turn.

Ash gripped the shoulders of the seat to prevent himself from falling over. "How much farther do you think it is? You drive so fast we must be making good time."

"It's a good distance from here. You'll start to see other cars on the road before we arrive." He looked up at the boy, smiling slightly. "I'd get comfy."

"Okay." Ash slid back down proper into the seat, fixing his skirt as he went. He checked his wig and makeup in the mirror before leaning back to get comfortable. "Think we'll walk away with dates tonight?"

"Maybe," Gary said with a small shrug. "If not, you owe me," he added, glancing over for a moment with a smirk before green eyes went back to the road.

"Owe you?" Ash scoffed. "Owe you for what? Getting you out of the lab and into an awesome party?"

Gary opened his mouth to respond, but smirked again. "You win this time."

Ash grinned. "Only this time?"

"Okay, there was that one other time," Gary said, rolling his eyes. "You know what I meant."

"I know, I just wanted to hear you say it," Ash replied with a very satisfied grin. Deciding the silence of the night was hardly appropriate for the mood, Ash leaned forward to turn on the radio. The speakers immediately blared with some form of hip-hop techno music. Again Ash threw his arms up and cheered. "Yeah!"

Gary grinned, and let the music fill the silence for most of the rest of the ride. The party was a ways away, and he was glad they'd left an hour earlier than they had originally planned to. They arrived just in time to pull up in the peak of the party. And like Ash had predicted, heads turned when the bright red corvette pulled up.

Ash winked and waved as they rolled up, effectively catching the attention of a number of guys, and inciting the jealous anger of their dates. The boy laughed. "Life is so much more fun when you look this good."

Gary smirked. They got out of the car and it was turned over to the valet. "So what's the plan?" Gary asked, looking around and grinning to himself when he realized that he also had some eyes on him even as the car pulled away. "Should we stick together or meet up later?"

"I think if we stick together, people will think we're together. We're here for dates, Gary. You're gonna get that girl who thinks you're so damn fine, you being a researcher won't even matter," Ash said, pointing an encouraging finger at his friend. "My game is seeing how long I can keep a guy fooled for. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. If nothing else, I'm gonna dance my ass off."

Gary laughed, rolling his shoulders back. "I'll see you later, then." With that, they'd parted ways, heading into the party and going opposite ways. The place was dark except for the flashing colored lights and full of people talking and laughing and cheering. The two quickly vanished from each other's sights into the crowd.

It was hours later before either of the boys met up again. And only by accident. "Hey, watch it!" a young woman was heard snapping. Ash just waved her off before pushing through the crowd. He seemed a little off balance and was looking everywhere except for where he was going. He bumped into yet another body, looked up to apologize, but then just grinned a bit stupidly. "Gary!"

The brunet seemed just as out of it. He smirked down at the other boy, giving a salute with two fingers as his greeting. His green eyes were hazy, and his face was a little flushed. "Hey... how's it going?"

"So good! I totally met this guy!" Ash replied.

"Yeah?" Gary asked, nodding his head. "It's been going good for me, too! My old cheer-leading squad is here!"

"No way!" Ash did a full 360 turn, attempting to look for the girls, but ended up facing Gary again. He blinked. "I'm supposed to meet him in the bathroom!"

"Y-yeah?" Gary asked, biting his lip slightly. "The girls asked me to take them out in the car..." His voice trailed off and he put his hand on his head, swaying a little.

Ash frowned. "You... You're no good to drive!" he said.

"It'll be fine!" Gary insisted, waving his hand.

"No! No!" Ash shook his head. "If you get caught, you'll get arrested! You're not even old enough to drink! I mean..." The boy swayed on his feet a little. "You can't even stand up straight!"

"Then... then maybe I can..." Gary didn't finish his thought, he just sort of started to look at his feet as he stabilized himself. Suddenly two girls came bursting through the crowd, clinging to either of his arms.

"Gary!"

"Gary, are we gonna go?"

Ash bit his lip. He still remembered the older guy he'd met. The one he was supposed to meet in the bathroom. Only, now, he was way more concerned about Gary. For one, Ash had promised his mom they wouldn't get into trouble. Second, he didn't want Gary in that corvette when it ended up around a tree. "I wanna dance!" he suddenly blurted.

"Dance?" Gary asked, looking surprised. The girls were whining and tugging on his arms. "But... I thought you were going to go meet..."

"I said I wanna dance!" Ash said and stomped his foot.

"A-alright, alright!" Gary stammered. The girls looked upset, but they were just as easily distracted onto the dance floor, following Gary as Gary followed Ash. And more girls seemed to follow them, until Gary's entire old cheer-leading squad had found him. Apparently getting out of the lab was all it took for him to regain his old popularity.

Having all the girls follow and swarm them was not what Ash had wanted to happen. At least... he didn't think it was. Why did he care all of the sudden? He tried to forget, tried to tell himself that at least Gary wasn't trying to drive now. But that wasn't good enough. "Tell your sluts to go away," Ash said with a deep frown.

Gary's eyes narrowed confusedly. He leaned over, frowning. "What? Didn't you bring me out here to help me pick up girls?"

"And you think these girls are good enough for you?" Ash asked. "Where were they when you decided to become a researcher? More importantly, where are they gonna be when this party is over?"

"I don't know?" Gary responded, still looking confused. "I could have just as easily picked up a total stranger too... What's the problem?"

Ash's frown turned from one of annoyed anger to fearful confusion. "I... I don't know. I just don't... like it."

"I don't get what you mean," Gary said, raising an eyebrow. "Why would you bring me out here if you didn't want to help me pick up girls like you said you did?"

Brown eyes squeezed shut as he shook his head. "I don't know! It's too confusing!"

Gary looked at the girls, then back at Ash. He frowned, but eventually broke away from the girls and grabbed Ash's hand. He started to drag him off of the dance floor. "C'mon, let's get some air..."

Ash followed along, still looking a little scared and lost about what was happening. He looked over his shoulder and saw the girls watching them strangely, whispering to each other. Suddenly the music faded away into a steady thump, and Ash realized they were outside. "What?" he mumbled while looking around.

"My head was starting to hurt and you seemed like you needed to get outside for a bit," Gary said, leaning against the side of the building. He put his hand on his head, looking up at the sky. "What time is it?"

"Mn... I dunno, maybe one?" Ash started to fidget with his wig, making sure it was still in place. "We might have to rent a motel room," he said idly.

Gary was quiet for a moment, his face still flushed. "Yeah. We will," he answered eventually, nodding his head. "You said it... I can't drive like... this..."

"Why were you even drinking?" Ash asked. "You know we're not allowed."

"The girls bought me drinks," Gary murmured, rubbing his temples.

The boy chuckled. "You sure are a sucker for a pretty face, huh?" Ash said.

"Babe, there you are!" An older man emerged from the building. Much older. Just by looking at him you could tell he was into his 30s. "I waited 15 minutes for you."

Ash spun around and gasped. "Hey you!" he said, now with a smile and approached the stranger. "Sorry, I got distracted."

The man grinned. "That's all right. How's that relaxer working for you?"

"So great!" Ash said with another gasp. "I feel awesome now."

Gary drew his eyebrows together, frowning. He put his hand on Ash's shoulder, leaning in to talk into his ear. "This... this doesn't seem like a good idea."

"What're you so worried about?" Ash asked. "He didn't give me alcohol, like some people we know. Nope! He had the cutest little pink pill that went into my soda. The bubbles tickled my nose," he said with a giggle.

The man reached out to grab Ash's hand. "And now..." He easily pulled the boy away from Gary and right up against himself. "We can get to the fun stuff." His words were followed by the stranger planting his mouth roughly on Ash's neck, one hand holding his waist, and the other sneaking beneath the dress to grope at the boy's ass.

Ash whimpered and squirmed a little. He seemed strangely submissive, almost unable to judge his own movements, much less those of other people. "H-Hey, not so hard..."

Gary's green eyes went wide when he realized what had happened. It took him a few moments because of the alcohol, but once he realized what was going on, that same alcohol allowed him to grab Ash's shoulders and pull him away from the older man, and then push his way between them. "Hey, back off."

"Gary..." the boy whined with a pout. "What're you doing?"

"Yeah, kid." The man stepped right up against the researcher. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"That was not a relaxant," Gary said over his shoulder, before looking back at the older man. "Did I stutter? I said... back off."

The man glared at Gary before giving a snort. "Whatever. You two aren't even worth it."

"H-Hey..." Ash's eyes were sad as he watched the man walk away. He even reached after him. "Where are you going? Gary... Gary, what did you do?" Gary just frowned angrily after the man, before turning and grabbing the wrist on Ash's reaching hand. He started to stumble away from the club, pulling the boy along with him towards the nearby motel. Ash nearly tripped, but then he began to follow quite obediently. "Where... Where we going?" he asked. "The party's not over yet. We should stay and dance some more!"

The brunet looked over his shoulder. "He drugged you," he said simply. "You're done..."

"Drugged me?" Ash frowned, but then broke into giggles. "That silly, Gary. How'd he even get it to me, huh?"

"You drank it," Gary said, tugging on Ash's arm to make him stop. "It's not funny."

"Drank it? Oh! No, no, no, no... no, no... ... no. That's not a drug, it's a relaxer!" Ash explained, still giggling through his words. "I mean, if I was drugged, wouldn't I be acting funny? Helloooo? Duh!"

"You are acting... funny," Gary insisted through slurred words. "He was... lying. Probly intended to rape you." He looked over at him again, frowning deeply. "You need to be... more careful."

"It's not rape if I agree to it," Ash insisted. Brown eyes stared at Gary for a moment before pulling his arm back so he could put both hands on his hips. "You know what I think? I think you're just... Jealous!"

"I'm jealous?" Gary said, spinning around and frowning deeply. "You're the one that was pissed when I was with my old cheerleaders!"

"Because they're part of the old you!" Ash said. "The douchey you! If you stayed with them, you'd get a big arrogant head again!"

Gary seemed taken aback by the statement. He gawked for a moment, but then grit his teeth and pushed past the boy, heading back towards the place. "I don't need to listen to... this..." he murmured, still slurring his words.

Ash turned around, glaring after the older boy. "So that's it? You're just gonna walk away?" He tried to blink back tears. "Leave me?"

"If that's the thanks I'm gonna get... yeah!" Gary shouted back, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Gary, don't go!" Ash cried, reaching out both hands. "I'm sorry! Don't leave! I'll be good!"

Gary stopped, slowly turning around with a sort of tired look on his face. "What do you really want?" he asked lowly. "Because I can't... figure you out."

"I... I don't know what I want." Ash approached the taller male, he on drugs while the other on drink. "Sometimes I think... I want you..." he said as his fingers grazed the flesh showing from Gary's open shirt. "But I can't, because you're not like that."

Gary blushed visibly. "Sometimes I... think I want you too," he murmured. "But it confuses me. Because you're right... I'm not like that."

"A-Am I deceiving you, Gary?" he asked.

"No. I've always... felt this confusion," Gary responded quietly.

Ash blinked those big brown eyes. "Really? Since... Since when?"

"Since... I don't know. Maybe since you beat... beat me at the Silver Conference. Maybe... maybe since we left for Johto. I don't know. It feels like... like it's been that way since I can remember."

Ash blushed. Those fingers moved deeper into Gary's shirt, finding one of the two tan features hidden beneath the fabric. "How come you never said anything?" he asked quietly.

Gary gasped quietly, his face flushing a bit more. "Because... because I didn't know if you were like... that... so I figured I'd just... ignore it..."

"Well, I am so... Are you still going to ignore it?"

"You... didn't seem interested," Gary murmured.

Ash laughed. "Cause you said you were straight. So are you or aren't you?"

"I don't know," Gary sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I thought I was... but you... make me crazy."

"Good crazy?" Ash asked, sliding one of his legs up in between Gary's.

Gary gasped again, nodding quickly. "Y-yeah... yeah. Good crazy."

The boy grinned. "Great. So, club or motel?"

Gary swallowed dryly. He seemed to think about it, but suddenly shook his head. "We... I mean... I shouldn't, you're drugged..."

"So?" Ash really seemed to not grasp the concept of being drugged. Probably because he was. "I say it's okay, so it's okay."

"A-are you sure?" Gary asked. His resolve was crumbling because of Ash's leg between his, and it was evident in his stammering voice, too drunk to be adamant.

Ash rubbed with his thumb. "You want me or not?"

Gary breathed inward sharply. "Y-yeah... yeah, I really... want you."

Ash growled deeply and grabbed Gary's collar in both hands. "Then let's go," he said, dragging the other boy towards the motel down the street. It was a cheap place, not run down and gross, but not a five star hotel either. "You got cash?"

"Yeah," Gary breathed, reaching into the back pocket of his skinny jeans and fishing out his wallet when he was dragged to the front desk. He paid for the single night and the man gave them both a knowing look.

Ash just waved at the man with a smart grin. He followed Gary up to the second floor and down to the very end of the hall where their room was. Retro wallpaper was the first thing anyone would notice about the room, followed by the shaggy carpet. How long had this place been around? There was a small television with rabbit ears that no doubt only got four channels. There was the cliche Bible in the dresser drawer. Then, of course, there was the queen size bed laid simply with two white sheets and two pillows. "How romantic," Ash chuckled.

Gary closed the door, looking around at the room with a frown on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but ended up just stumbling onto the bed, falling back into a sitting position on the edge. "Urgh..."

"What?" Ash moved to the bad and sat next to Gary. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you have cold feet."

"No, I just fell over my own feet," Gary said with a quiet laugh.

"Good..." One of his slender toned legs stretched out right in front of Gary's face. "Cause I'm so ready for you."

Gary swallowed dryly. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears. He put his hand down on the bed behind the other boy, leaning over until they were a hair's bredth apart. "I've waited to do this... for... a long time," he murmured, before locking their lips. Ash hummed into the kiss. At once his arms were around Gary's neck, pulling him in close and deep. Even Ash's legs wrapped themselves around the other boy's waist. Gary shivered, getting on his hands and knees, crawling over the other boy as he pushed further into the kiss. They'd just started and he was already throbbing with want. He felt it.

"Wait." Ash broke from the kiss. He was panting and looking up at Gary with strangely timid eyes. "You have to promise not to... to laugh or... or anything."

"L-laugh?" Gary murmured, raising an eyebrow. "About... about what? Why would I...?"

The boy swallowed. "Because the last guy got mad," he said. "Lots of people laugh. You can't."

"But I... know," Gary slurred, looking confused. "I won't get mad... or laugh."

"When you take my clothes off. You have to promise," Ash said again. "Promise."

"I promise," Gary said quietly. He reached his hands up and slowly slid off the boy's wig, releasing his real hair from beneath it. "I want to see you."

Finally, Ash nodded. Even just the loss of the wig put a look of insecurity on his face, but when Gary said those words, Ash felt like it was okay. Gary did know. There weren't going to be any surprises. No one was going to get angry with him and call him names. "You will," Ash replied.

Gary smiled slightly, moving back in to the kiss. His hands that had wanted to run up into Ash's hair were finally able to, pulling at the strands gently as he ran his tongue across Ash's lips.

"Mmn..." Ash parted his lips to let the other tongue inside. He felt himself pressing against the tape and it was even starting to hurt a little. It was the only real disadvantage to tucking. At least in Ash's opinion.

One of Gary's hand continued to hold onto the back of Ash's head, cradling it as he pressed into the kiss, his tongue dancing with the other boy's. His other hand slid under the boy's dress, gripping the inside of his thigh.

This time Ash whimpered into the kiss. It wasn't the fearful or unhappy kind of whimper, but the whimper of someone who was maybe a little startled and a lot excited. His legs shifted slightly, revealing the current empty space between them. He arched as his hands slipped back inside the black fabric, tangling with the chains there.

Gary pulled back slightly, pulling up the boy's dress to look beneath it. His fingers hooked onto the panties beneath and pulled them down, and his face reflected surprise at what he saw. "Doesn't... doesn't this hurt?" he murmured.

"You get used to it," Ash replied softly. "I use medical tape... so it's not so bad."

"Can I... take it off?" Gary asked, stroking his fingers down the surface of the tape.

Ash blushed, squirming. "Y-You, ah... You have to hold your hand against it for a minute to make it warm. It c-comes off easier that way," he explained. "I can do it if... if you ar-aren't comfortable."

Gary smirked slightly. "No... this is okay," he murmured. He rested his hand over the tape, but took two of his fingers and continued to run the tips up and down the covered length.

"Mmah..." Ash's face turned a darker shade of red and his legs rubbed up against Gary's side. "Now it h-hurts..."

"Sorry." Gary bit his lip and rested his hand down, letting it warm the tape until it started to unstick itself.

Ash groaned softly. As the tape peeled away, his length was unwrapped from the folds if skin around it, and came to the position it wanted to be in so badly. The boy also shifted a bit strangely as his genitalia dropped back down from inside his body.

Gary slowly pulled the rest of the tape off, flinching a little as he did. He couldn't imagine doing what the other boy did to himself on a daily, or even a weekly basis. Hell, thinking of trying it once made him wince. He discarded the tape onto the floor, leaving the once trapped appendage alone for a few moments, instead rocking himself up to slide one hand around the boy's back and squeeze at his ass as his mouth came to start to suck and bite gently at Ash's neck.

The boy was grateful when the other left him alone down there. He really did need a moment before anything could be done with it. Ash did hiss and groan delightedly when Gary squeezed him like that. It felt good. Better than when the stranger had done it. He turned his neck to open it even more. Giving Gary everything he wanted. "Oh god... yes..."

Even if Gary had been in a dry-spell, it was obvious he was no amateur. His hand kept moving and squeezing and it made his blood rush. Ash's skin was soft and supple. He kept moving his mouth, feverishly licking and sucking at his neck, leaving small bite marks that slowly turned from red to black and blue.

"Gary... Gary... Nmah!" His skin was starting to tingle, starting to burn. It hurt, but it was a good sort of hurting. "Y-You've done this before."

"Yeah..." Gary murmured as he pulled back from a particularly dark spot he'd left above the other boy's collarbone, kissing at it gently. "With girls, but... Have... have you?" he asked, green eyes flicking upward.

Ash shook his head. "Not nearly this far..."

Gary looked a little surprised. "You're a virgin?" he asked with a bit of a slur coming through his heavy breathing.

Brown eyes looked into green while his lips frowned. "You're surprised?"

"A little," the brunet admitted as he kissed that marked skin again. "You're amazing..."

"Amazing boy or amazing girl?" Ash asked, trying to make Gary realize something.

Gary paused for a moment. "Just... just amazing," he said, not quite sure how to answer.

"And I love that you think that about me," Ash replied with a smile. "It's just... the few guys I've been with think I'm an amazing girl, but then they see that I'm a boy. Then... Well sometimes bad things happen. That's all."

Gary frowned. He swayed for a moment, before running one of his hands up the back of Ash's dress, pulling it up as he rested his hand on the boy's back. His other arm came to curl around his torso over the fabric and he pulled the boy flush against him. "You shouldn't have to deal... with that."

Ash smiled again. "I didn't think so, either." He leaned up to kiss Gary under his jaw. "That's why I'm so glad you accept me, Gary."

Gary hummed contentedly, setting Ash down on the bed again so he could kiss him on the lips. "I'm glad... too," he murmured drunkenly. "You're amazing," he repeated.

The smile faded away just slightly. "Should you do this while you're drunk?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," Gary said, nodding as he kissed at Ash's neck again. "Trust me, it'll... be fine."

"I hope so, because I finally feel happy," Ash told him. While Gary was kissing his neck, Ash began working on the buttons of his black shirt with maroon painted fingers. He found one of the tan nubs again and pinched it between his thumb and forefinger. Gary gasped, shivering slightly. He slipped the shirt off, letting it fall to the ground, revealing a rather built chest and smooth stomach. His muscles rippled when he shivered with the feeling. "Wow..." Ash cooed, looking over Gary's body with intense eyes. "You look, like... whoa..." His erection twitched excitedly. "Really whoa."

Gary smirked, flexing slightly. "I'm glad you like," he murmured. His hands started to search for a zipper on Ash's dress.

Ash shook his head. "The string, remember?" he said and guided Gary's hands up between his shoulder blades. "Then it's just... down my ankles and off."

"Oh... right," Gary murmured, undoing the strings. He pulled the dress off, letting it fall to the ground on top of his shirt. Green eyes immediately started to look over the boy's body. Ash was lithe and slight. Gary licked his lips, his hands running down the other boy's side.

He gasped softly, followed by a whine. Ash arched as his hands came over his head to grab the pillow he was laying on. "Ahh..." His cheeks were on fire and he turned his face to the side, breathing. Gary's hands slipped around the boy's back. One held him up a bit by the small of his back, while the other moved lower, pressing gently at his entrance. Meanwhile his mouth landed on one of the pinker nubs on the boy's chest, licking and sucking at it like he had on his neck. Ash yelped. "Wh-What are you doing?"

Gary looked up, confused. "I... I need to do this first."

The boy tried to move away. "Bu-But why?"

"Just trust me," Gary sighed, holding the boy in place. "It'll... hurt. A lot. If I don't do this first."

Ash shook his head. "What're you going to d-do, Gary?" He tried squirming away again. "C'mon... cut it out..."

"I just need to use my fingers for... a bit," Gary explained, leaning over him and trying to get him to stop squirming. "It'll make this go a lot... smoother. Just relax."

The smaller boy yelped again. "Why do you have to do it there?" he whined.

"Where else would I do it?" Gary sighed, looking up into Ash's eyes. "How did you think this... worked?"

"I-I-I dunno..." Ash said, now looking embarrassed. Clearly he misunderstood something. "I thought we... you know... jacked each other off. What does m-my butt have to do with anything?"

Gary let out a breath. "You don't have... a girl's parts, right?" he murmured. "So this is... how it'll work instead."

"My butt isn't a vagina!" Ash cried.

"Will you just trust me? I know how this... works," Gary groaned.

Ash made a few more whimpering noises before finally nodding. "O-Okay..." Gary reigned back his reaction and simply swallowed, slipping his first finger inside. He moved it in and out in a pattern he'd been taught once before by a girl who was into this sort of thing. Eventually he snuck in a second. Ash arched and groaned. He'd shake his head sometimes, trying to decide between hating it or loving it. "I d-didn't know it was l-like this..." he said, voice shaking. "Nnnho... oh... Ah!"

"It's hard at first... especially this first time," Gary murmured as he worked his fingers. "The next part is... better," he assured him, kissing at his cheek comfortingly from time to time, before a third, final finger moved in, scissoring and stretching gently.

Ash cried a little. There were tears in his eyes and little whimpers in his throat. He held onto Gary tightly, nuzzling against the other boy for comfort. "K-Kiss..." Ash begged. "Makes it b-b-better..." Gary felt a little guilty, but he was confident he'd rock the boy's world once they were through with the preparations. He did as he was asked, leaning down and kissing Ash gently as his fingers finished their work. "Mmmh..." Ash hummed into the kiss. Gary's lips were soft against his. He liked that. The kiss kept his mind off those fingers just enough that he didn't feel so much in pain, either. "I... I've loved you, Gary..." the boy said after breaking the kiss.

Gary pulled his fingers out just before the kiss came apart. He was about to pull them away completely when he heard those words and froze. "What?" he asked quietly, unsure of if he'd heard correctly.

"I've loved you," Ash said again. The boy was shaking a little. Trying to smile.

Gary then realized that he was hearing right, and the alcohol wasn't making some sort of weird hallucination of his desires take place. At least, he was pretty sure it wasn't. "Since...?" he coaxed, as he finally moved his hand and braced it on the mattress.

Ash shook his head. "I... I dunno... Long time."

He might've wondered if it was the drugs talking if his own mind wasn't hazy with drink. Instead he just leaned forward and kissed him again, pulling back just a bit to ask, "You... ready?"

Brown eyes blinked. "Aren't you going to say it back?"

Green eyes blinked back for a few moments before he seemed to snap to it. "Yeah! Yeah, sorry..." He moved to press his lips against the dark-haired boy's ear, taking a few moments before he breathily murmured, "I... I love you."

Ash smiled and hummed happily. "Okay. Now I'm ready," he said and wrapped his legs around Gary's waist. Of course, he'd totally forgotten that Gary still had his pants on. Gary seemed to forget for a second too as he reached down towards his hips, only to touch denim and look down. He laughed at himself quietly and reached down, undoing the button and the zipper before he pulled his legs out of the formfitting pants. Ash's mouth fell open slightly. "It's long..."

Gary smirked slightly, moving Ash's legs so that they were hooked over his shoulders. "My ego wasn't... totally unwarranted," he murmured smugly.

"What does a long penis have to do with a ego?" Ash asked. "You can't even see it."

Gary rolled his eyes, still smirking. "You'll... see," he murmured. He shifted forward, pressing the tip against the prepared entrance. "Ready?" he asked a second time.

Ash swallowed. "B-Be nice..."

"Don't worry... I'll go slow," he said, in a tone as comforting as a slurring voice could manage. Finally he pushed himself inside, groaning as soon as he did, his face blushing red.

Ash nearly screamed, but he bit it back, clawing at Gary's back. Being as long as it was, only pushing in part of the way felt like all of the way to Ash, and that was too far. "Gary! Gary!"

Gary stopped, wincing when the boy scratched at his back. "You okay?" he breathed, one eye closed as he felt pain rising from the trails the other boy's nails had raked up his torso.

"Are you sure it's supposed to go like this?" Ash asked.

"I'm sure," Gary said. "It'll be uncomfortable at first... but it'll feel good after a while... I promise."

Ash bit his bottom lip, but nodded. "Kiss," he said again. Gary leaned over to kiss the boy. The movement made him push in further, but before Ash could cry out, he'd kissed him again. Ash's cries were muffled by the kiss and he was grateful for it. Gary cared enough to try and make this as pleasant as possible. Ash just wished it could be going smoother. The other boy's length was rubbing roughly against his insides making his shake and shudder. Gary's tongue slipped into the other boy's mouth as he paused. He knew this was hard for the other boy. But he also knew that once he finally managed to get all of the way inside, Ash would completely forget about the pain. He moved his hips very slowly, until he was almost all of the way in. Then he pulled out half of the way, before finally sliding all the way, which made him shiver and groan into the kiss again. "Ah! Ohhh!" Ash arched his back off the bed. His face was blazing red with beads of sweat on his temples. Ash's tongue pushed against the other so he could bite down on Gary's bottom lip. "Mmmn... Mmmmhn!"

Gary jumped slightly when the boy bit his lip. "Ah... a-a little hard," he whined gently, his fingers gripping at the sheets slightly.

"N-No kidding," Ash groaned.

Gary allowed the boy a few moments to catch his breath and get used to the feeling, lifting his head to lick away the sweat that was dripping down Ash's forehead. Once he was done, he started, as carefully as he could, the steady pattern of moving his hips.

Feeling Gary this close made Ash's heart race. His throat ran dry, keeping him from crying out. There was a fever rising under his skin. Suddenly Ash felt a hot moistness attack his chest. Brown eyes looked down to see Gary's tongue lapping at one of his excited buds. "Uhn..."

Eventually Gary began to pick up the pace. He thrust harder at the pleasurable spot that would make the smaller boy go crazy. His mouth moved everywhere, across his chest and upon his neck, leaving marks, kissing, biting, and sucking at his skin. He'd make Ash feel amazing. He was determined to.

"Uh... ha... ah-" Gary was always like this. Dominating at every turn. It seemed Ash would always be beneath him. And now literally. "Ah-Aah... Un... Ah!" Despite that, though, Ash was willing to do whatever Gary wanted, even when he was swimming through fog and fire like he was now. Because he wanted this too. "Ha... Aah!"

Gary kissed at the largest mark he'd made in the whole patchwork of hickeys and bite-marks, and then at the bottom of Ash's jaw. "How's it feel... now?" he asked through breathy moans, fighting the urge to thrust even harder too quickly.

Sweat was soaking the sheets beneath Ash. "Agh... ah... agh-ah... Haa... Gary..." His hands were gripping tightly at the taller boy's arms as he was rocked back and forth on the bed. "Nh..." Ash flinched and his cheeks were dark. "Ya- it's... I can't... spe-Gary!" He threw his head back as his body bent like a bow. "Oh! Ooh!"

"Nngh!" Gary couldn't hold himself back any longer. He started thrusting harder, faster, enough to make himself shiver and moan. He doubled over, burying his face against the other boy's neck, breathing hotly across his soft, marked skin that glistened with sweat and saliva. "Ash... Nngh! Ahh..."

"Aaahh! Gary!" Ash's only regret was that they hadn't done this sooner. He wished they'd heard each other before now. Ash had always been calling out, even before he realized it. The obsession to defeat Gary had been more than that underneath. But even though he'd always been calling, Gary had never noticed. Never listened. "Ah... Un..." One of Ash's hands moved to hold the back of Gary's neck while the other slipped up through spiky brown hair. "Haa... Aah! Aaaah!" It was so much hotter than he thought it would be. "Nnnh! Ahhh! Yhaa!"

"Almost... nnhgh... done," Gary breathed hotly. He lifted one of his hands from the now loudly squeaking bed and reached it down to, at first, delicately touch at the other boy's previously ignored length. It surely was ready to be touched by now. His fingertips played with the tip at first, all while he continued to thrust his hips into Ash. Then he gripped at it, and began to stroke it up and down.

Fresh sweat dripped down Ash's body. It made their skin slick, their stomachs and chest moving smoothly against each other. "Hyah-yah! Aah! Agh..." So good. Ash felt so good. The sensation of another person's hand stroking his aching sex was so different from when he did it on his own. Better. The faster Gary moved, both in and out, made the boy's fever spike. "Agh... Hot... Gary! Gary! Hot! Nh..."

Listening to that, on top of the feeling of thrusting in and out of Ash, finally brought Gary to his peak. He stopped, groaning and doubling over as he released. Warmth filled the inside of the boy's body, and Gary let out a long, shuddering groan as it happened. He caught his breath, forcing his eyes open as he steadied himself, and dutifully started to stroke the other boy's length again, seeking to bring him to the same satisfaction.

Ash could hear his heart pounding in his head and was nearly convinced that everyone for five miles could hear it too. "Ah! Aah! Ahh! Gary! Gary! Ga-ah-ah-ah-ryyyy!" Ash's body arched, shaping itself like an elegant bow once more as he came.

White splattered everywhere. Upon his stomach and both of their chests. Gary continued to breathe deeply, relinquishing the boy's length and placing his hands down upon the now wrinkled sheets. He slowly pulled himself out, and then lifted his hand to brush Ash's bangs away from his sweaty forehead.

One eye peeked open revealing a lusty brown orb. Ash was panting heavily with a tired whimper here and there. "Th-That's... what it... it's like... every time?" he asked quietly.

"P-pretty much," Gary breathed, his hand retreating to instead wipe sweat off his own brow. His muscles were glistening with it, too.

"Wow..." Ash breathed with a grin.

Gary grinned as well. He was determined to make Ash feel amazing, and he knew he'd succeeded. Looking between the two of them, he knew they needed to clean up, but all he wanted to do right now was curl up under the sheets with the boy. A bit too drunk for logic to win out, he grabbed Ash's arms, pulling him up into a sitting position so he could scoop him up in his arms. He then pulled back the sheets and placed the black-haired boy beneath them. He flicked off the lights before climbing in as well.


	5. The Trials of a New Relationship

The drugs and exhaustion made Ash easily maneuvarable. He nuzzled against Gary with a smile when he was lifted up. Ash didn't care about, or perhaps even realize, the sticky mess between them. He just curled up on top of Gary, sighed happily, and fell asleep. Gary quickly fell asleep as well, after a few moments of tired staring at the boy on top of him. His arms found their way around him before his eyes closed, and he was out just as quickly. Nothing woke him until a particularly inconsiderate bird started to chirp loudly outside the window, and he quickly became aware of the light burning the inside of his eyelids. He groaned, slowly blinking his eyes open to a view of a hazy room. He couldn't remember where he was. And when he tried to think about it, a headache shot through his head. He made a small, pained sound, lifting one of his hands to rub his eyes and his temples.

Ash was no longer on top of Gary. In fact, he wasn't even in the bed. His clothes were still scattered about, so at least the boy hadn't left. Ash was nowhere to be seen, though. The boy had woken up some time before to find himself wrapped in the arms of his friend and once rival. Needless to say, he'd flipped his shit. Ash had scrambled from the bed only fall to the floor when an intense pain shot up his back. What the hell happened? Unable to make himself stand and move properly, Ash had grabbed one of the sheets, wrapped himself in it, and crawled to the bathroom. It was here now that a corner of the white sheet could be seen sticking out from the closed door.

Gary eventually sat himself upright, opening hazy green eyes to look around the room. He saw his shirt on the ground and looked down at his body, realizing that he was naked when the blanket slipped down and exposed his chest. He groaned and got out of the bed, starting to look around for his pants. As he slipped them on, he started to figure that he must have gotten together with one of the girls. It wasn't an unusual circumstance he was finding himself in, after all. But out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a dress still laying on the ground. He started to wonder where she might have been until he narrowed his eyes and walked over to it, picking it up to take a closer look at it. Green eyes widened considerably when he recognized the garment. He threw it back onto the floor carelessly and took another quick look around the room, only then noticing the bathroom door. He approached it slowly, and tried to open it. "Don't," came Ash's voice from inside. He sounded confused, and maybe even a little scared. "Don't."

It was locked. Gary sighed, holding his head again. His headache was way too terrible to deal with this. "C'mon Ash, come out of there..." he murmured as he leaned against the doorframe.

"No," he replied. "I don't even know how I got here." Ash tried to draw his knees into his chest, but the pain stopped him and made him whine.

"Are you just going to sit in that bathroom, then?" Gary asked with a sigh. "They're probably going to kick us out of the hotel soon..." He looked around at their surroundings. Maybe this was a motel or an inn or something, not a hotel. He had no idea.

"The last thing I remember is riding in the car with you," Ash said. "Next thing I know, I'm waking up naked next to you with this horrible pain in my backside. Did we even go to the party, or was this your plan?"

"Plan?" Gary raised an eyebrow, then frowned at the door. "Are you serious?" he growled. He rubbed his head. "Glad to know you think so highly of me..." He tried to think back to the night before, but it was mostly a blur. What did happen?

Ash closed his eyes. "I'm scared, Gary!" he cried. "I don't remember anything! I don't like it! Wh-What if someone did something to us?"

"Ash, I think what happened is pretty obvious," Gary said, perhaps a bit harshly. He didn't mean to, but the boy's voice burned his mind like a hot poker when he raised it like that. He tried to collect his thoughts. "I remember going to the party... and we split up. You didn't want people thinking we came together. And then I met up with the girls from my old cheerleading squad... and they offered me drinks." His memory stopped there, and he paused, trying to recall more as he rubbed his temples.

"Your girls?" There was the sound of soft shuffling and then the door opened. Ash stood there, sheet tangled around his body... With red stains. "If you met up with them, then how did I end up like this?" the boy asked, looking up into green eyes for some kind of answer. For some kind of help.

Gary opened his mouth to answer, but it ran dry when he saw the blood. He knew what that meant, too, but the guilt was suddenly there as well. "Something must have happened... after I got drunk," he murmured quietly. "Because we somehow ended up having sex."

"Oh god..." Ash moaned, nearly in tears. "This wasn't supposed to happen. Gary... Gary, I'm sorry. If I did something to trick you... Oh god..."

"Trick me?" Gary asked, looking confused. "What... do you mean by that? I doubt that..."

Ash shook his head. "You're not the one who's gay, Gary. I don't need to be tricked into having sex with a boy. Hell, it was what I was aiming for at the party. You like girls. I know you do. So... I must have done something. I'm just sorry I don't remember." He sighed. "I could apologize better."

Then it was Gary who shook his head, letting out a breath. "Ash, do you see me freaking out right now?"

Ash sniffled and looked up at Gary. "N-No?"

"You didn't trick me. I... I'm just... fine with what happened," Gary murmured, blushing a bit as he continued to massage his head.

Ash gasped and blushed as well. "What d-does that mean, exactly?"

"I probably said this yesterday, but... guess neither of us remember." Gary looked down at the smaller boy with tired green eyes. "I've wanted you... so badly. For a long, long time."

"Oh... Oh wow..." Brown eyes looked down at the floor as his face turned a brilliant pink. "Gary, I... Oh..." Ash smiled. "Yeah..."

Gary looked over at ther other boy, surprised at his subdued reaction. "Yeah... what?"

"I've loved you, Gary, for years."

Gary almost looked surprised, but rather, he just smiled. "That explains why this happened, then."

"I wish I could remember," Ash said. "I bet it was nice..."

"We could do it again sometime," Gary suggested idly.

"Sure!" Ash exclaimed, surprisingly quickly. "Only, you know... it was our first time and everything. My very first time."

"Yeah, that's... pretty obvious," Gary said, biting his lip as he touched the red-stained sheet lightly. "But, well... I guess..." He put a hand on his chin, trying to think of a rationalization. "We may not be able to remember this first time, but... if it weren't for it happening this way, it might have never happened at all."

Ash smiled and laughed. "I guess you're right." The boy's legs began to shake. Pain was mounting inside him, and he was forced to grab the side of the door. "Think thre's an ice machine around here somewhere?"

"Here," Gary offered. He grabbed the boy around the shoulders and carefully helped him over to the bed. "Lay down. I'll go get you some ice." Ash just nodded. He got into the bed and laid down on his front, keeping the sheet wrapped around himself. Once Gary left, Ash took to smelling the pillows. He smiled. Ash could smell Gary in them. He could smell himself, too. Gary returned a short while later with ice, in a tied off plastic bag. He came over to the bed and pulled up the sheet before placing the ice down on where he knew the sore spot was. "How's that?"

"Nyyh!" Ash tensed briefly, but then let himself relax. "Cold, but it helps. Thanks."

"No problem." Gary looked at the clock briefly. "We've got about an hour until we need to check out."

Ash pouted up at the taller boy. "Do we have to? I can barely move. Who kicks people out of a motel anyway?"

"Motels that get business every night from people partying," Gary sighed. "If you really need it, I could buy another night..."

"You shouldn't have to spend more money on me..." Ash insisted quietly. "I... I'm sure I'll be okay by then."

"It's fine, Ash. If you really need it, I can afford to spend a bit extra. It's not like this place is really expensive." He looked around at the place, frowning slightly. "If I wasn't drunk, I would've taken you someplace nicer, by the by."

The boy blushed and nibbled on his bottom lip. "If... If you're okay with it... I think it might be best. My body just really, really hurts right now."

"I'll go downstairs to the desk and buy us another night," Gary said as he picked up his shirt off of the floor and tried shaking it to get the wrinkles out. "You should call your mom and let her know that you're okay."

Ash nodded. "Oh, right..." He reached for the pea green colored phone on the night stand. It even had the seeing impared big print numbers on the face. He dialed for home and waited for the woman to pick up.

Gary had buttoned up his shirt and was headed out of the door just as Delila picked up on the other end. "Hello?"

"Hey, mom, it's me," Ash said. "Just checking in."

"Oh! I'm glad to hear from you," she answered. "Where are you?"

Ash looked around the room. "We're in a motel near where the party was," he answered. "We just got really tired afterward, so we stayed here rather than try to drive home."

"I understand. How was the party?"

"Oh, lots of fun!" he said with a big smile.

"I'm glad to hear it," she said. "When will you be coming home?"

Crap... Ash should have known she would ask that. "Um, well... Probably sometime tonight?" More lies and he hated it. "I might just stay at Gary's depending on how late it is, though."

"Alright. Just come see me in the morning, okay?" Ash could probably hear her smile through her tone of voice. "I love you, sweetie. I'll see you soon."

That did it. "Mom wait!"

"What is it?" she asked, sounding confused.

"I... I can't lie to you, mom," Ash sighed. "We made it to the party, but I don't remember any of it."

"Were you drinking?" she asked in sort of a hushed tone of voice.

"No! No, see, that's the weird part. I would never do that. Never! Which is why..." Ash bit his lip. "Which is why I can't figure this out. Gary said he'd had a few, but I never touch the stuff. I'm so confused."

Delila was quiet for a few moments. "Did you accept any drinks from strangers?"

"I don't think that I would, but... Mom, the last thing I remember is being in the car with Gary. I don't recall going into the party or anything. I know not to accept drinks from other people, but... I mean... Can they still slip stuff in if you aren't paying attention?"

"It's possible," she said softly. "If you're not paying attention, or if you put it down and then pick it up afterwards... anything could have happened. It's a good thing you were with Gary."

"Yeah, he must have brought me here to keep me safe." Ash was quiet for a minute or two. Should he tell her what happened? Not all kids told their parents this kind of thing, right? Then again, they were all the other had. Ash took pride in being open and honest with his mother. "Um..."

"Was there something else?" she asked when the long pause reigned. There was concern rising in her voice.

Ash licked his lips. "Something happened..."

"What was it?" Delila asked, now starting to sound a little paniced.

"Gary and I... We ended up... together, mom."

"Together?" Delila asked. "I'm sorry sweetie, I don't quite understand..."

The boy groaned. "Apparently some confessions were made, and, well... We had... relations..."

"Relations?" There was a short pause. "Oh! Oh..." She was silent for another moment, but then she quietly asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Actually, yeah," he said, even managing a smile. "We sorta talked about it and, well... We figured out that we've both liked each other for a long time."

Another pause, but suddenly the smile could be heard in Delila's voice again. "Well, I'm glad, Ash. He's a good boy."

"You aren't mad?" the boy asked. "I mean, I want you to be happy too, mom."

"Ash... there's a million things that could have gone wrong. You could have gotten hurt. If this is the biggest thing... then I'm glad. Besides," she said, laughing quietly. "I'd rather him than some stranger I don't know and trust."

Ash smiled. "Thanks, mom. We're actually going to take a day and just hang out here, talk about things, figure it all out. We'll definitely be home tomorrow afternoon, though. I love you."

"I love you too," she said. She was thankful he was being honest. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye mom." Ash hung up the phone then. He stared at it for a few long moments before sighing and burying his face in the pillow. It was relief, but now he had to tell Gary that he'd told his mom.

A few minutes later and Gary came back, throwing his wallet onto the nighttable. "We've got one more night," he announced before he actually looked over at Ash and noticed that he had his head buried in a pillow. "What's the matter?"

"I told my mom," he said, confessing up front.

If Gary was drinking something he might have spit it out. "That we had sex?" he gasped.

"Not in those exact words, but yeah." One of those brown eyes peeked up at Gary. "I told her about the party, that my drink was probably drugged, and that you pretty much saved me. I told her that we talked about things, and basically confessed our feelings. I wasn't gonna lie to her, Gary. I just can't do that."

"Well... uh... if you're comfortable with that," Gary murmured, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Then I guess it's alright."

Ash nodded. "I am. She was really worried about me, Gary. When she gets like that... I can't not tell her the truth. Mom actually said she was glad, though. She really likes you."

"Well, that's good," he said with a quiet laugh. "If she disapproved we'd have a hard time of it, huh?"

"It would be harder, yeah." Ash shifted on the bed, trying to get comfortable, but he ended up biting the pillow to stifle a cry.

Gary sighed. He laid down next to the boy against the pillows after taking his shoes off. "Sorry," he apologized. "I've been told I can be a little rough."

"The part I don't get," Ash said quietly, "Is why my bottom hurts."

Gary drew his eyebrows together. "Seriously?" he asked, putting his hands behind his head. "How do you think we had sex?" Now Ash felt really stupid. Maybe he'd had the wrong idea about gay sex all along. Not wanting to answer, Ash just put his face back into the pillow. Gary sighed, reprimanding himself again for snapping. "That's where my dick went," he explained quietly. Ash's shoulders curled up around his ears and his voice was muffled by the pillow. "What?" Gary asked, looking down at the other boy.

Ash turned his face down just enough so his mouth was off the pillow. "I thought guys, you know... stroked each other off. I didn't think anything was put in anything."

"Oh... Well, now you know," Gary said. "What you're thinking of is mutual masturbation... not sex."

"I must have looked like such an idiot last night," Ash sniffled. "Oh man... I probably cried..."

"Don't dwell on it," Gary murmured. "Neither of us remember anyway. At least now you know."

Ash sniffled again. "H-Hey... How did you kn-know we were supposed to... to do it that way?"

"I was with a girl who was into that kind of stuff once. I told her I thought it was weird and probably dangerous, but she explained that that was a way gays did it all the time."

"You mean you weren't a virgin, too?" Ash yelped. "Ohhh maaaan..."

Gary shook his head. "Nah. I've done this plenty of times before... I've just been in a dryspell lately. Never with a guy before, though."

"I'm probably the lamest partner you've ever had," Ash mumbled into the pillow. "A cross-dressing virgin who doesn't know what gay sex is. Perfect."

"Relax," Gary said with a small chuckle, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't dwell on it." He then managed a smirk. "I'll tell you if you're the lamest after we do it again."

Ash mewled softly and grabbed that hand in his own. "Gary, you're... clean, though, right?"

"Yeah," Gary said, nodding his head. "I'm clean."

"Good." Ash stroked his index finger along Gary's, feeling how worn is was from typing all the time. He traced the lines in Gary's palm next. After that, Ash brought the tip of each finger to his lips where he kissed them softly, first one way and then the other.

Gary looked surprised. After all, they'd admitted they'd liked each other, sure, but that had been that. For some reason he wasn't expecting the other boy to want to be physical about it at all. "What're you doing?" he asked, in a way that wasn't accusatory, just curious. Instead of responding or even apologizing, Ash just stopped and let go of Gary's hand. He pulled his arms up under his body and looked down towards the end of the bed. Gary followed Ash's gaze, raising an eyebrow before looking back. He put his hands back behind his head. "Hey, Ash," he said, demanding his attention idly.

Brown eyes glanced up. "Yeah?" Gary leaned over and placed a peck on those unsuspecting lips, before leaning back against the headboard again. Ash smiled. "When did you know?"

"Know what?"

The boy giggled. "That you liked me."

"Oh... I'm gonna say... around the time of the Silver Conference," Gary said, nodding his head at his own words. "When I gave you the other half of that Pokeball we carried as good luck charms. Remember?"

Ash smiled fondly again. "I do remember. Did you start to like me then, or did you realize that you already liked me?"

"I came to that battle knowing that I did. I wasn't going to let it stop me from trying my hardest, though." He smirked slightly. "That was a good battle."

"It was," Ash hummed. "When did it start, Gary?"

"I don't really remember. I just remember getting really obsessed before the fight... To a kind of depressing point. I didn't really get it at first. I'd probably always felt that way, but just ignored it. And then afterwards, I went back to ignoring it again. But I was aware of it, so it was so much harder."

"I see..." Ash nodded to himself. "It's too bad we never said anything to each other. Might have saved ourselves a lot of grief."

Gary shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it might have... or maybe it might not have worked out back then. I was a little too insensitive for a real relationship and you were going off to Hoenn." He looked down. "So who knows."

"I knew... way before that..."

"Really?" Gary asked. He was really surprised by that, considering the boy had seemed so uninterested before. "When?"

"The first time I caught myself thinking of you was when I tried battling Erika, the Celadon Gym Leader. She'd banned me from her gym, so I had to dress as a girl to get in." Ash laughed. "I actually wondered if you would like me in the dress and wig. I imagined you smiling and laughing, in a good way, and telling me how cute I was."

Gary snorted with laughter. "How ironic," he mused.

"Another time, I got snowed in up in the mountains. I had my Pokemon with me, but as the night dragged on, I wished more and more that you were there with me. I wanted you there to hold me and keep me warm. I might have dreamt about you, even."

Gary rolled onto his side, propping his head up on one elbow. The other hand reached back over to start stroking the boy's black hair idly. "Never would have guessed."

"I never gave you a reason to," Ash said. Brown eyes closed as he smiled and hummed. "That feels nice..."

Gary grinned as well, continuing to pet the boy's hair as silence overcame the room, save for the chirping of the birds outside. "We've got a whole day with this place," he finally said after a long while. "What do you want to do?"

"We could braid our hair and paint each other's toe nails," Ash said with a playful smirk.

Gary laughed. "And eat ice cream and talk about boys?"

"FroYo," Ash corrected him, "but yes."

"Fro what now?" Gary asked, raising an eyebrow.

The boy giggled. "FroYo. Frozen yogurt."

"Oh, I see," Gary said with his own smirk. "You know a lot more girly lingo than I do."

"Well I guess I should," Ash replied with a shrug. "Since I'm trying to be a girl now and everything. Talking like one helps."

"I guess that makes sense," Gary said with a nod. He went back to stroking the boy's hair, again letting there be a lull of silence. Where as a child, he might have been incredibly bored and raring to go do something, his adult self was able to just lean back and relax, listening to the birds chirp outside their window and watch the light moving on the wall as his hand idly moved. Ash allowed Gary to pet him for a while. He liked the touch, and soon his body began to tingle for it as well. One of Ash's hands came up to hold Gary's. He stroked the fingers along his cheek and neck, smiling. Slowly the boy rolled over, taking the hand with him. Soon Ash was guiding the fingers across his collarbone and then leading the palm down to his chest. All the while, Ash was stroking the back of Gary's hand with his own fingers, grinning and humming as he did so. Gary didn't really seem to notice at first. His hand moved to his cheek naturally, and then he just felt more skin. But when Ash started to stroke the back of his hand, he looked down. It was only then that he noticed the huge, dark bitemarks and hickeys that were all over the boy's neck and over his collarbone. He touched them and smirked.

Ash hissed at the small sting he felt. Brown eyes tried to look down, but that far up his chest was out of his sights. "What's there?" he asked quietly.

"Lots," Gary murmured, touching another spot, still smirking. "And lots..." He touched another, closer up the boy's neck. "Of hickeys," he finished, touching one below the boy's ear.

Now Ash shivered. They each stung, but somehow, in a good way. "Oh yeah? So... You are still kind've a rough guy, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Gary said, laughing quietly. "I've changed, but... not completely."

"Were you really into me, then? Or angry at me?" Ash asked with a smirk.

Gary laughed again. "If I was angry, this would have been nothing," he said as he tapped the marks. "So I'm going to say I was really into it."

"Ow!" Ash curled his shoulders inward defensively. "Not so hard..."

"Sorry," Gary apologized, picking up his hand. "They'll stop hurting soon, I'm sure. And then you'll forget about them and someone will ask what happened to your neck," he said with a snicker.

"Oh haha. Maybe I'll tell them the grandson of the renowned Professor Oak took advantage of me while I was drugged. How about that?"

"That wouldn't be very nice," Gary said with a frown, putting his hands back behind his head. "I would not want to go through that again."

Ash raised and eyebrow. "What do you mean again? This only happened once. Wait... It did only happen once, right?"

"What? Oh, yeah, no, I mean..." Gary frowned, ruffling his own hair. "I used to sleep around with girls a lot. And sometimes when I made it clear that I didn't want a relationship with them they'd claim I took advantage of them. Even when I told them before we started that I didn't." He looked down with a quiet breath outwards. "I got into a few sticky situations that way. Girls are insane sometimes."

"Wow... Well, I would never really do that," Ash said. "You and I just still have this back and forth going on, I think." The boy smiled. "I've never gotten a hickey before, so... I guess I graduated from that, huh?"

"You went from never having had a hickey before to not being a virgin, all in one night," Gary snickered. "Congradulations." He leaned over and kissed Ash's forehead. "How's it feel? Any better than before?"

Ash nodded. "A little." He shifted, making sure he was still on top of the bag of ice. "Hey... Gary?"

"Mhm?"

"You don't have to do it right now, but... Before we go home tomorrow, I need you to do something for me."

Gary raised a brow, looking down. "And what's that?"

Ash nibbled nervously on his lower lip and looked away. "There's money in the toe of my shoe. I'll need you to run to a drug store and buy medical tape, okay?"

"Medical tape?" Gary asked, brow raising a bit more. "What for?"

"Never mind what for," Ash answered with a shake of his head. "Just do it, all right?"

"Um, alright," Gary said, though he still looked curious. "We'll need food soon, so I'll get it when I run out and grab that. Speaking of, what do you want?" he asked, changing the subject since the dark-haired boy obviously didn't want to talk about it.

Brown eyes looked up at Gary again. "I feel like muffins."

"Alright, that can be arranged," Gary said with a smile. He got himself up off the bed, rooting around for the rest of his clothing. "Anything else?"

"Chocolate milk?"

"I'll see what I can do," Gary said with a laugh. "Want me to head out now? You hungry?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to try taking a bath, or at least a shower. Sitting... might not be a good idea."

"You're right, that would probably be best," Gary said with a nod. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Wait..." Ash held up his arms, making a little grabbing motion with his hands. "One for the road." Gary was almost out the door, but he heard the boy's request just before he was out the door. He smiled slighty and came back over to the bed, climbing over the boy and straddling his hips. Ash blushed. That was certainly more than he was expecting. "H-Hey..." he said with a small smile.

"Hey," Gary responded with a grin. He leaned down and gently kissed the boy's lips. "You gonna miss me?"

"Maybe..." Ash smiled coyly and kissed Gary. "Maybe not..." Suddenly the brunet didn't really want to leave. The close proximity was nice. He enjoyed the tension that hung in Ash's eyes as he just hovered there, wondering what he was going to do next. And trading those short kisses actually got his heart going. It wasn't something he was used to, especially not the morning after. So he leaned down and gave the dark-haired boy another chaste peck. Ash giggled after the kiss. Even out of the clothes and the makeup, Gary made him feel like a real girl. Whether that was the brunet's intention or not. Then again, maybe not so much like girl rather than... needed, attrative, loved, and more. Ash pushed his lips together, pouting them out for each kiss that followed, making them full and soft for his... Well, his boyfriend. Gary eventually found himself on his elbows instead of his hands so it was easier to lean down and kiss the boy. His eyes had closed and the little pecks were lasting longer. "Gary..." Ash said between kisses. "Gary, you..." Another kiss. "You know..." A third kiss. "I can't..." And yet another. "Can't go again, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Gary said, moving back only slightly, their lips still almost touching. "But you do know there's lots of other stuff, right?"

"Really?" Ask blinked innocently. "Like what? You mean... using our mouths?"

"Oh wow," Gary said, smirking. "You've... never done anything, huh?" Feeling perhaps a bit smug that he was a bit more well-versed in this despite them being about the same age, he gave the boy another kiss before he said, "Yeah, using our mouths. I'll show you."

Ash blushed when Gary laughed. Was it really so funny? There were other things he'd been dealing with! "Just be careful..."

"Don't worry," Gary said, kissing the boy on the nose. "I'll take care of you." His hands found themselves upon the boy's chest, and he started to thumb at the pink buds gently as he turned to kiss at the less marked side of the boy's neck.

"Ahh-hhan!" Ash gasped loudly, yet delicately into Gary's ear. He'd never, to his memory, been touched there before. Ash could feel the little buds immediately grow hard under Gary's thumbs. Even though this side of his neck was less worked, the new bites and sucks made the old marks tingle like fresh ones. "Mnn..." Gary smirked against the boy's neck. Ash certainly sounded like a virgin. He felt like it too, he mused, as he continued to rub his thumbs on the pink buds. He moved one hand away eventually, bracing his hand instead against the mattress as he leaned down, and started to lick at the pert nub, before finally giving it a little nip.

Ash gasped loudly and his hand shot out on reflex, his nails catching across the bridge of Gary's nose. On accident of course. "What'd you do that for?" the boy cried and at once hid the tender bud beneath his palm.

Gary hissed when the boy scratched his nose. "What's the matter?" he groaned, rubbing the marks, which started to turn a little red.

Ash pouted innocently. "Why'd you bite me, Gary?"

Gary smiled slightly. This was a little frustrating, but also sort of cute. "Guess I should have warned you." He moved the boy's hand away by the wrist and gave the bitten spot a kiss for an apology. "It's just normal, Ash."

"Oh..." Brown eyes looked away, obviously embarrassed. "Well... I like the licking part better..."

Gary chuckled quietly. "Alright." He pinned the boy's hands to the bed and leaned over to lick at the neglected nub instead.

"Mmmn..." Ash moaned softly as a new blush spread over his cheeks. Heat was rising under his skin all over his body. Soon, Ash couldn't tell if his chest had become wet from sweat or from saliva, but the rest of his young body was certainly beading with excited perspiration. "Ahh... Ahh!" Gary grinned. Those sounds were amazing. They sounded so much more genuinely flustered than anything he'd ever heard before. He started to move further down the now shivering body, kissing a line down his stomach. His hands came to grip Ash's hips, fingering the soft spots just below the bones that jutted out. His mouth then came to kiss at the sensitive skin there, licking and sucking at it teasingly. "Nyaah!" Ash's hips bucked upward, causing pain in his backside, so he dropped them back down again. His hands came to fight with Gary's, almost trying to dislodge them, but soon Ash was holding those other wrists tightly, securely, wantingly. Upon another suckle to the sensitive skin, Ash's slender legs came up so his knees were rubbing Gary's ears. "Oh! Ooooh!" Gary started to blush, shoulders shrugging up a bit at the feeling of those soft legs rubbing the sides of his face. Ash took better care of his legs than most girls did! The skin felt smooth against his own. He swallowed slightly, gripping the boy's bucking hips a bit harder as his tongue came to circle the base of his length. Brown eyes snapped open in alarm. "Don't do that!" Ash suddenly yelled and tried to close his legs.

Gary's eyes went wide when he suddenly had those legs crushing the sides of his face. "Why not?" he asked, trying to push the boy's legs out again.

"Just don't!" Ash said again. "Do something else!"

"Like what?" Gary asked, his shoulders starting to slump. The mood was vanishing quickly.

Ash didn't mean to be so complicated, but Gary just didn't understand, and Ash doubted that the other boy ever would. "Something that doesn't involve my... you know..." he said quietly.

Gary frowned. "Then how exactly am I supposed to get you off?" he asked curtly. "You don't exactly have a pussy I can eat out and you can't just ignore it."

That made Ash frown bitterly. "Get off!" he shouted. "Get off me right now!"

Gary sighed crossly. He did as he was told, but once he slid off the bed he didn't stick around to get lectured. "I'll go get the food," he mumbled before quickly heading out of the hotel. Ash sat up to watch Gary leave. He stared at the door for a long while before falling back onto the bed. Ash curled up on his side, drew a pillow to himself, and began to sob into it. Why couldn't Gary be more sensitive? Hadn't he changed? Apparently not as much as either boy had thought...


	6. Changes

Gary returned quite a while later. He'd taken the shopping trip as a time to clear his head as well. He returned without announcing it, the crinkle of grocery bags and the door closing serving to signal it. The boy in the bed flinched slightly when he heard the door click shut. Gary had been gone so long, Ash didn't know when to expect him back anymore. Wiping his eyes to try and get them dry was difficult, since they insisted on watering over and over again thanks to how sore, red, and puffy they were. Ash sat up in the bed while keeping the sheets pulled up over his lap. "D-Did you use the money I mentioned?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"No, I walked out without it. Don't worry, I bought everything," Gary said as he slipped off his shoes and pocketed his room key.

"M-My tape, too?" Ash asked, sounding not too sure if Gary had done him the favor, but Ash wouldn't blame the guy if he hadn't. Ash probably didn't deserve any favors right now.

"Yeah, I think so. It might be the wrong kind, I had no idea what I was looking for." Gary finally came into the room. He didn't look visibly upset, but his tone was obviously not ecstatic. He set the bags down on the bed and started to root through them, producing for the boy first a roll of tape, then a muffin. "Here."

"Thanks..." Ash took the tape and set it on the night stand to be use later. He stared down at the muffin, idly poking one of the blue splotches he supposed used to be a fruit. Now that it was here, Ash didn't feel hungry anymore. "Gary... Gary, I'm sorry."

"It's alright. You're not ready," Gary mumbled, pulling his own lunch out of the bag. He came to sit next to the boy on the bed, placing the bag on the floor and starting to look for the remote in the drawers of the nightstand.

Ash shook his head. "No... No, that's not it."

Gary located the remote, but hesitated to use it at the boy's words. "What, then?"

"I want to be a girl," Ash said. It wasn't much of an explanation, and he knew that, but maybe Gary would get it.

"I know that," Gary said, shaking his head. "But you're not." He looked at the boy with an expression that was sort of stern, but looked a little hurt. "Ignoring your male parts to achieve that goal might make sense in your head, but you're not going to get any pleasure that way."

Ash nibbled on his lower lip. "But won't I be a hypocrite? Won't I be going against myself if I acknowledge, well... that particular body part?" The boy was trying so hard not to cry all of the sudden. "It felt really, _really_ good when you started to do that stuff with your tongue, but it scared me. I wanna be Ashley more than anything. I thought... I thought letting myself feel good through... my thing... would make me not be her anymore."

"That makes sense, but what are your options, really?" Gary asked with a frown. "You don't have girl parts. You're either getting pleasure there," he said, pointing towards the boy's now covered length, "Or not at all. And if you go for the latter option you're going to get really frustrated really fast."

"Is it..." Brown eyes looked into green. "Is it really that... powerful?" Ash asked, for the lack of a better word.

Gary laughed tiredly. "Yeah."

Ash sighed. "I guess I'm no good at being a boy or a girl, huh?"

"It's nothing to do with that," Gary said, finally unwrapping his lunch, a pretty standard looking hero. "Deciding to just completely ignore your dick... it's stupid, but it shows that you're really dedicated to this." He smiled slightly. "I just don't think you have to take it quite that far, because if you do... well, then we'll spend every night being frustrated."

The boy nodded. "I understand. I didn't realize that a guy's and girl's parts played such a big role in feeling pleasure. Gary, I'm sorry I snapped."

"It's alright," Gary said, finally feeling that it was okay to start eating. "We had a misunderstanding. It happens."

"Next time you're in the mood, I'll try again," Ash said with a smile. "You're such a great sport when it comes to everything else about the new me, Gary. I should be willing to meet you at least halfway. I mean..." He nibbled on a piece of the muffin. "You are my boyfriend now, after all." Gary smiled again, lifting his arm and propping it up on the back of the pillows. He then gestured with the hand that wasn't holding his lunch for the boy to get close, as he swapped the sandwhich for the remote and turned on the small television across the room. Ash complied without hesitation. He scooted closer, leaning his head on Gary's shoulder, and continued to nibble on his muffin while watching the television. Eventually Gary's channel surfing brought him to a station that was showing a Pokemon tournament. He contemplated changing it, but the battle on-screen caught his attention. Some girl was using a very well trained Linoone to run circles around a very surprised trainer's Charizard. "So..." he murmured idly, looking down at the black-haired boy. "Are you really not a trainer anymore, or was that just a line?"

"Hm?" Ash looked up at his boyfriend with a kind of lazy smile. He was rather enjoying the quiet time together. "No, I was telling the truth. I'm not a trainer. Not anymore."

"Why?" Gary asked curiously. "It was always your dream... so why'd you stop?" Cheers and gasps erupted on the television as the Linoone unleashed a Water Pulse attack on the Charizard, which the spectators, and the girl's opponent, hadn't been expecting.

Ash grew even more quiet at the question. It was a different quiet now. One of awkward pain. "Because being a trainer wasn't worth it anymore. My Pokemon understood, so... They were willing to retire with me."

On screen the Charizard took off into the sky, only to be zapped down by a Thunderbolt from the Linoone, another unexpected move that had the crowd in awe. "I... think I understand."

"If you don't... You can say so," Ash told him in a low voice. "I'll tell you, just... Hold my hand..."

Gary frowned a bit. Maybe this went a bit deeper than he thought it did. Done with his lunch and having crinkled up the paper and thrown it away, he reached his hand over to hold the boy's. "What is it, then?"

Ash turned his face into Gary's shoulder. "I got attacked a lot. People who didn't even know me suddenly hated me. I had to have my own private security at tournaments. Out traveling... I hardly ever stood a chance. People would say things I tried to ignore, but stung me really deep inside. Lots of guys would punch me and scream at me that I was sick. I wasn't even safe at tournaments anymore, Gary. People screamed and threw things at me. Not everyone, but... enough that it was a problem. More than I could handle. My Pokemon hated to see it happen to me. There's only so much they can do for me though, you know? So one day, I told them I wanted to go home. They led the way..."

Gary listened to the story silently. On the television the arena exploded into cheers as one well-timed Shadow Claw attack from the Linoone to the Charizard's chest toppled the giant. The brunet bit his lip and turned it off. "I understand," he said, nodding his head. "That... would be a good reason to stop. Sorry for bringing it up."

"I miss battling. I really do," Ash tried to explain. "Growing up, you're right, it always was my dream. I got older, though. Getting older means new feelings, new desires, new needs... My new needs and feelings couldn't just be pushed aside or ignored. I tried to not be Ahsley. I tried really hard, but... I got so depressed," he said, sniffling quietly. "I felt like a stranger in my own skin, Gary. I felt like I didn't belong in my body. Do you know what that's like?"

"No, I don't," Gary said, shaking his head. He thought for a few long moments, wrapping his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Did you ever consider... maybe going to keep training somewhere where no one knows you?"

"Do you know how impossible that is?"

"I guess you're rather famous, but... There are places out there that have never seen a single aired tournament from Kanto, Jhoto, Hoenn, or even Sinnoh. In fact, most people here don't even know about those places. Pretty much the only form of communication between all of these places are the professors... and on rare occasion there's a trade route or a Pokemon Center network. But that's it."

"I guess that's true, but... Why should I risk it?" Ash asked. "I'm happy here. I have mom, I have my Pokemon, and now... I have you."

"If you're really happy that way," Gary said quietly, nodding his head.

"I am..." Ash said, also nodding. "I let my Pokemon spar with each other, too. They enjoy it. Plus... I think they like kicking back and relaxing like this. Maybe in a few years, once I've established my new identity, I'll go back out. Just not right now."

"That sounds like a plan." Gary laughed quietly, brushing back those black bangs that were starting to get a little long from Ash's face. "We've travelled for years, haven't we? It's good to be able to relax."

The boy nodded again. "Having a normal life is nice." Ash chuckled. "As normal as my life is."

"Yeah," Gary agreed. "Though sometimes I do get nostalgic about being a trainer."

"You and I could always battle," Ash suggested as he looked up at his boyfriend.

"Heh, that'd be interesting," Gary said with a grin. "It's been a while since our last match."

Ash smirked. "You might actually beat me this time."

Gary rolled his eyes. "Don't underestimate me, Ash. I've learned a lot since I started doing research," he said with a confident smirk.

"Research is all well and good," Ash said, "but do you have the skills to put any of it to use?"

"Of course!" Gary scoffed, sounding offended. "The only reason I didn't win was because I didn't strategize enough," he said, nodding his head. "Sure, I knew a lot of sure-fire strategies that worked against most trainers, but I didn't take all of your possible Pokemon choices into account."

Ash laughed. "Type trainers are always easier to battle against than trainers like you and me."

"Definately," Gary said with a snort. "I could usually take down most Gyms with one or two Pokemon."

"I know, right?" Ash said with another laugh. "You'd think they'd get it, but they don't. Predictability is not a strength."

"Still, I've met some pretty impressive themed trainers. Like, their Pokemon pull off moves you wouldn't expect from their types. Have you ever seen a Dugtrio perform Aerial Ace?"

"Nu-uh!" Ash exclaimed.

"It's pretty crazy," Gary laughed. "Seeing a Pokemon that spends most of its time in the ground pull off a Flying move is really funny."

"What do they do? Like... jump or what?"

"Dugtrio are not jumpers. They actually strike out with claws. But like their Fury Swipes attack, it moves so quickly that you don't even see their claws. It just sort of looks like their heads are wiggling around." Ash blinked at Gary a few times before he sputtered and then began to giggle loudly. "What's so funny?" Gary asked.

"I'm just picturing it!" Ash answered through his giggle fit.

"If I ever run into that girl again, I'll make sure to call you so you can see. It's really hysterical."

Ash let his laughs die down a little before asking, "Hey, Gary, where is your grandad anyway?"

"Johto," Gary responded. "Studying... something or other. Probably Pokemon eggs. There's always new discoveries being made about that, and Jhoto's one of the most knowledgable places... you don't really have too many breeders coming from Kanto."

"You know what I always wondered?" Ash pondered aloud. "If Pokemon have eggs, then there are only birds, reptiles, and marsupials, right?"

"No, Pokemon just... have eggs," Gary said, shrugging his shoulders. "Even the ones that are defined as humanshape have eggs. I mean, you have some that make milk for their young but... they still lay eggs."

"Marsupials," Ash said again.

"If you want to define them that way, sure," Gary said, frowning and touching his chin. "But what about plant Pokemon?"

Ash thought hard about this, causing a small wrinkle in the bridge of his nose. "Pokemon are weird," he finally concluded.

Gary laughed out loud at that. "That's the understatement of the century."

"Why _don't_ they have live babies like humans?" he asked. "Or from seeds?"

"Who knows," Gary said with a shrug. "It's even more perplexing since there's now people that theorize that Pokemon and humans had a common ancestor. It's a big scientific mystery."

Ash pursed his lips. "Well, I don't know about that... but they certainly are curious creatures."

"There's legends that say that people used to marry Pokemon," Gary said, smirking at the boy's expression.

"But... But Pokemon are animals," Ash insisted. "It doesn't work."

"They're just legends," Gary murmured, shrugging his shoulders. "Who knows if they're true or not. But, I mean, Pokemon can learn our language if given enough time. They have the mental capacity. Not to mention Psychic types who can communicate telepathically... who knows, really."

"Pikachu is great and all..." Ash began as his hand slipped inside Gary's open shirt, "but he can't make me feel the way you do." Ash emphasized this by following Gary's example from before and rubbing his index finger over a tan nub. "You can't tell me Umbreon could ever compare to me?"

Gary gasped quietly, shifting a little atop the sheet. "No, I couldn't," he murmured, only to snicker playfully. "He doesn't have thumbs," he teased.

"Thumbs, eh? Is that what turns you on?" Ash smirked and moved his hand from Gary's chest up towards his chin. All four fingers splayed against the other boy's jaw while his thumb stroked Gary's bottom lip before slipping inside. Gary didn't expect his joke to be taken quite so literally. He had to remember who he was joking with. Still, he could work with the situation. His tongue took the boy's thumb further into his mouth and he started to suck on it, as he suddenly got up and again straddled the boy's hips, pressing him back against the pillows like he had been that morning. Ash blushed and blinked up at Gary. "You really like thumbs that much?"

Gary laughed, removing the digit from his mouth. "I was teasing you," he explained, as he pinned the boy's hands down to the pillows. He leaned over and started to kiss at his neck. "I like your thumbs just as much as I like your hands. And your arms. And your shoulders. And your neck..."

"O-Oh..." Ash blushed even more now and smiled. "I-I like your... your hips..."

"Hips?" Gary asked, sounding surprised as he looked up from the boy's chest, where his mouth was moving next.

Brown eyes widened. "Oh... jeez... Was that stupid?"

"No, no," the brunet said, shaking his head. "I'm just curious as to why. I've never heard anyone compliment my hips before."

"Well, because... Your hips have a good shape," Ash tried to explain. "They don't stick out funny, not like mine, but you can still see them. Also... Your hips hold you up really well. I watch you move and... you carry yourself on them a lot. Like right now..." The boy's painted fingers brushed along the hem of Gary's pants. "Your legs aren't holding you up, your hips are. They're strong. I... I like that."

Gary was quiet, but eventually he grinned. "That's great." He saw the look of confusion on the boy's face, so he went on to explain, "Most people compliment you on the obvious things. Muscles, hair... maybe even your jawline. But my hips..." He snickered and kissed Ash's cheek. "Tells me you've been paying real attention."

Ash smiled cutely and brushed noses with Gary after the kiss. "Well of course I do," he said. "I watch every part of you. I just find you so... amazing."

"I'll show you something amazing," the boy said with a quiet laugh. "If you'll let me."

"What is it?" Ash asked shyly.

"I'll show you," he repeated mysteriously, as one hand came to gently run over the sensitive skin at the top of his thigh. "As long as it's okay for me to touch you here this time."

Ash shivered and whimpered just slightly, but nodded his head all the same. "Yeah... Yeah, i-it's okay... I trust you."

Gary smiled comfortingly before ducking his head down to get the boy ready. He started to lick and suck at the pink buds on his chest again to get him back into the mood. His fingers ran lightly over that soft, sensitive skin, occasionally squeezing his thighs.

"Ahn-haaaa!" Ash gasped and grabbed Gary's hair. It was good. It was good. It was good. He was allowed. It was good. "Nnh... Nhha... Ah! Ah!"

Gary shivered a little to hear those sounds again. If that's the way Ash sounded now, he could only imagine how that voice would change in a few moments. Slowly he trailed his head down the boy's torso, kissing and following a trail with his tongue, dislodging Ash's hands from his hair and forcing them to grip the sheets instead. Finally, he came back to where he had been before, his tongue teasingly circling the base of Ash's length.

And just like before, Ash's legs found sensual perch on Gary's shoulders, knees rubbing eagerly against ears. "Ahhhh... G-Gary..." His fingers curled into the sheets, pulling tight wrinkles in them, and his back arched ever so slightly.

And like before, Gary blushed when he felt those legs against his face and shoulders. Every sound the black-haired boy made was amazing, and they hadn't even really started get. Finally, he decided to draw an end to his teasing. He spread his tongue wide and licked Ash's length from base to tip, before letting his mouth envelop the head slowly.

"Oh my god!" Ash groaned feverishly. "It's like _that?_"

Gary pulled his mouth off, stroking the excited length with his hand as he asked, "Yeah. You ready for it?"

"Oh... Oh man... Oh man..." Ash was already panting. Red colored his cheeks as his chest moved up and down excitedly. After a nervous swallow, the boy nodded.

Gary was starting to get the feeling that Ash might not have even touched himself down there that much before. He just grinned to himself at the idea. That would just make this even more intense. Moving his hand away and bracing against the mattress, he brought the length back into his mouth, sliding it all the way down to the base.

"Oh god!" Ash groaned again. The sheets were pulled even tighter in his grip as his head jerked back so he could groan and cry into the air. "G-Gary... Gary!" Ash's legs squeezed and rubbed eagerly against the brunet's head. In fact, he almost didn't even have control over it. "Ohhhn!"

Gary paused for a moment. Ash was going to go crazy once they actually started. Finally he began, sucking gently and slowly at first. His tongue teased the sensitive length in his mouth, which made wet noises as it worked.

Ash moaned in such a feminine fashion, but he carried it on for so long. All the gasps, groans, cries, and moans became an orchestra to accompany Gary's work. With his mind so clouded and racing the way it was, Ash would be lucky to remember his own name. "Oh! Oooooh! Shit! Oooohh!"

was nothing quite like making Ash make those sounds to give the brunet a bold ego boost and a thirst to make the experience even more intense. He sucked harder, moving his mouth more passionately, moaning and creating vibrations, eyes closed in concentration.

"Aaahny!" The boy's heels dug desperatetly into Gary's shoulder blades, looking for a way to push his hips into the other's mouth. "More! Mo-oh-oh! Oh! Ohhh!"

Gary's face flushed. He was starting to feel a little hot in his clothes, listening to that, feeling Ash's legs practically hold him in a vicegrip. It was time for the finale. Sucking as hard and fast as he could, he gave the final push, deepthroating Ash's length as his own passionate groan rumbled up from deep within his throat.

"No! Noo-oh!" Suddenly Ash seemed very nervous. "Gary! G-Gary!" he cried and tugged on spiked brown hair. "Ga-ha-ry! S-Something... Somethings ha-ha! Happening... Something! Ahn!"

Gary knew exactly what was going to happen, but there was no way he was going to pull back now and explain it. Ash would figure it out for himself. He kept up the relentless pace, deepthroating his boyfriend, hands coming to squeeze his thighs, tongue torturing every inch of the length that he vibrating between his lips with his own moans.

"Gary... Gary, it hurts!" Ash moaned, totally unaccustomed to the pressure all this pleasure would cause in his member. "Something! Something is... Ah! Ahhn! Nnh... nnngh... Ah! Ahhhy! Yaaaaaahhh!" Finally Ash's body arched nearly like a bow. The bend in his spine was elegant and graceful, lifting him off the bed brilliantly. Ash felt all the hot and sticky that exploded in Gary's mouth. If it hadn't felt so damn good, the kid might have been mortified.

Gary shivered, his face turning red, as he swallowed down the release until Ash was spent. He left Ash panting and sweaty upon the mattress as he pulled away, finally letting the boy free from his mouth. He lifted his arm, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "How was that?" he murmured with a small upward curve of his lips.

"I don't even know..." Ash panted, chest heaving and body coated in a fine sweat. "Like... Like woah..."

Gary smiled slightly as he licked at his teeth. It was such a weird feeling, but those noises had been worth it. He leaned down again to kiss Ash's cheek. "Yeah, like whoah."

Ash blinked and mewled happily. "And it's like that... every time?"

"Well I imagine you'll eventually get used to it," the brunet laughed. "But yeah. More or less."

Ash grinned. "Boy parts are... are awesome," he said, clearly starting to drift off. Young and virgin, he was spent.

Gary laughed again, getting off of Ash's hips and coming to lay next to him. He'd wished he'd gotten something out of the deal, but he couldn't ask too much of the boy that was already nodding off. "Yes they are," he mused as he leaned back against the pillows, pulling Ash against his chest. He figured he'd enjoy this until they had to head home.


End file.
